Politics at Work: The Daily Practices of Palestinian Workers in the Settler Economy

·        "Breach of settler sovereignty, and the production of intertwined forms of sovereignty"!

Tribute of loyalty and gratitude to the workers of Palestine, the militants and strugglers in all times and places!

·        A research bulletin was published on 13-1-2026 in the Journal of Political Power, titled "Politics at Work: The Daily Practices of Palestinian Workers in the Settler Economy" in English, by Dr. Ihab Maharmeh, who is a PhD researcher at the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex , University of Sussex, … in the United Kingdom, in addition to being a researcher at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, and a policy analyst at the Palestinian Policy Network (Al-Shabaka).. Given the importance of a topic like this research, I summarized this research paper in my following post on my Facebook page and my blog page www.zuhdish.co

-         This study examines the daily life of Palestinian workers inside the colonial settler economy as a central space of resistance, by employing the concept of “everyday resistance” as developed by James C. Scott, and linking it to the concept of resilience in the Palestinian context. The study argues that resilience does not represent merely an ability to endure or adapt, but constitutes an active political practice manifested in survival strategies, indirect confrontation, and the preservation of national identity under ongoing colonial domination.

-         The study shows that Palestinian workers’ resistance extends historically to before 1948, where Palestinian labor organizations faced policies of economic exclusion and contributed to shaping an anti-colonial national consciousness. The researcher explained that the Zionist movement demanded the exclusion of Palestinian workers from employment, and instead focused on providing exclusive job opportunities for Jews coming to Palestine. This demand was clearly manifested in the role of early Zionist institutions, foremost among them “the Histadrut” (the General Federation of Hebrew Workers in the Land of Israel) , which was founded in 1920, and one of its priorities was the systematic exclusion of Palestinian Arab workers, and in response to that, Palestinian workers began organizing themselves to confront the exclusionary policies of the Zionist institutions; trade union initiatives emerged aimed at protecting their rights and ensuring their presence on the land, such as the “Club of Arab Railway Workers” in 1923.

-         The Zionist movement realized that any Palestinian labor organization was essentially a form of political organization, and therefore it banned trade union activity and pursued anyone who tried to organize the working class in Palestine, within the framework of its strategy aimed at weakening the national struggle and subordinating Palestinian workers. Nevertheless, the establishment of this club constituted a pivotal station in the history of the Palestinian labor movement, as it later contributed to the founding of the “Palestinian Arab Workers Society” (PAWS) in 1925). which focused its work on three axes for organizing Palestinian workers: first, “confronting colonialism and Zionism”; second, “confronting backwardness, poverty and ignorance”; and third, “confronting Arab capitalism and political reactionary forces”!

- The Arab Palestinian Workers Association was active in organizing strikes in sectors such as tobacco, quarries, oil, and railways. These strikes, along with the struggles of youth, women, and student unions, helped sow the seeds of the movement that launched the Great Palestinian Revolt (1936–1939), and this revolt witnessed broad participation by Palestinian workers and peasants, accompanied by a general strike and unprecedented civil disobedience. Even after the revolt, workers continued their struggles through union and political strikes, most notably the strike at the Jewish "Tor" company in 1944, the quarry workers’ strike in 1946, and the railway workers’ strike in 1946. Despite attempts to undermine the role of the labor movement and to frustrate its leaders, the Arab Palestinian Workers Association had about 120 thousand Palestinian members .. who began to gain increasing weight within their Palestinian national movement!

-         After the Nakba, workers continued their political and union role in the West Bank and the diaspora, particularly through the General Union of Palestinian Workers’ Trade Unions, despite legal restrictions and structural discrimination. These dynamics reached their peak during the First Palestinian Intifada (1987–1993), where they highlighted the strategic role of Palestinian workers in the settlers’ economy. The Intifada erupted following direct violent incidents targeting workers, such as the killing of four workers at the Erez checkpoint, which led to a wide mobilization that included strikes, refusal to work, clandestine support for the resistors, and collective work at the military checkpoints. Workers constituted a large proportion of detainees, martyrs and wounded, reflecting their active engagement in the Intifada. Their participation showed that daily work practices, despite strict constraints and surveillance policies, can be transformed into tools of organized resistance and political action.

- Since 1967, Palestinians have constituted an important labor force in the settlement economy. Their number rose from about 20 thousand workers in 1970 to 116 thousand by 1992. After the Oslo Accords, the Israeli regime imposed strict restrictions on the movement of Palestinian workers from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and limited the number of work permits granted to them. Nevertheless, by 2000, about 145,400 Palestinian workers were employed in the settlement economy, and during the Second Intifada (2000–2005), this number fell to 58 thousand. Over the past decade, the number of Palestinian workers in the settlement economy increased significantly, from about 77 thousand in 2012 to approximately 218 thousand workers in 2023, including formal and informal employment, i.e., about 22% of the total labor force, contributing about a quarter of Palestinian gross national product (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics PCBS).2023

- The Israeli occupation’s expulsion of Palestinian workers from the settlement economy, in the aftermath of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation carried out by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on 7 October 2023, and the subsequent genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, has refocused attention on the question of Palestinian labor. Since October 7, Palestinian workers employed in the Israeli market have become a primary target for the Israeli Council of Civil and Economic Affairs and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Among the measures taken by the Israeli government were the cancellation of work permits for more than 140 thousand Palestinian workers from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In addition, thousands of workers were unlawfully detained and transferred to detention centers. At the same time, the Israeli government began formal discussions with a number of Asian governments to bring in thousands of foreign workers to replace the Palestinian labor force.

-         In his analysis of daily practices, the author identifies several main forms of resistance, most notably: indigenous naming as a sovereign act that preserves memory and identity; the strategic acquisition of the Hebrew language as a tool of protection and of undermining power relations, not a tool of integration; engagement in clandestine crossing and smuggling to bypass permit systems and exploitative intermediaries; in addition to resisting fragmentation policies across the Green Line through overnight stays, work, and cross-border social coordination. This resistance also includes other grassroots practices, such as strikes at checkpoints, participation in funeral processions for martyrs, and collective monitoring of political events, transforming daily life into a field of political struggle.

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-         The study concludes that these acts, despite their daily and informal character, breach settler colonial sovereignty and affirm Palestinian indigenous agency, transcending assumptions that confine resistance to organized or violent frameworks. It highlights the importance of recognizing the daily resistance of Palestinian workers as a structural element of the Palestinian national struggle, and as evidence of agency and resilience rooted in everyday life, especially in contexts where formal institutions are constrained or repressed!

-         The article criticizes the literature on settler colonialism, which often ignored the effectiveness of indigenous peoples’ resistance and contributed to portraying colonialism as an enduring project that cannot be undermined! In contrast, it highlights how the daily life of Palestinian workers constitutes a field for breaching settler sovereignty and producing intertwined forms of sovereignty!