From Challenge # 61
May - June 2000

Hanitzotz News

WAC Celebrates May Day under the Slogan:

WAC Fights for Workers' Rights to Union Representation

Wehbe Badarneh, coordinator of WAC in Nazareth, kicked off the evening with a survey of the organization's work. Yacov Ben Efrat, Secretary General of the ODA, analyzed contemporary regional politics in the context of globalization. He criticized the Arab parties for their continued support of Labor. Na'ama Shalabi of AWWP reported on her experience in the battle of the unemployed from Ein Mahel. Samya Nasser, manager of the Baqa Center in Majd al-Krum, talked about the unrecognized village of Ramya and the recent court ruling in its favor. (See story in this issue.) At one point the drivers of Tempo were called to the stage, honored by warm applause - for the audience has followed their struggle. Asma Agbarieh gave an honorary tribute to a group of artists from Jaffa who have volunteered their time and talent to an art program with children of the various Baqa Centers. Assaf Adiv concluded the round of speeches by describing the turn that WAC is about to take. After starting as an organization that has successfully defended workers in court, it now must become an address for unionizing all those workers whom the Histadrut has left behind. 

After the speeches came dinner, during which Dalal and Company, a Palestinian group, performed the revolutionary songs of Marcel Khalifa, which take their lyrics from poets such as Mahmoud Darwish and Tawfik Ziad. The crowd joined in the singing, for it knew the songs well - although they are rarely performed in the post-Oslo era.
The evening ended with a raffle. The winning couple received a room for a weekend in Jerusalem, donated by the Victoria Hotel, with a free dinner given by the Jerusalem Hotel. Both hotels are located in East Jerusalem. 
 

CHALLENGE Editor Roni Ben Efrat and Asma Agbarieh, Assistant Editor of al-Sabar, made a two-week visit to the US in early April. They addressed and took part in three conferences. The first took place at the Watson Institute for International Affairs (Brown University, April 7-8); it was entitled " Oslo and Beyond: Israeli-Palestinian Relations in a New Era." The women then journeyed to the Center for Policy Analysis in Washington, DC (April 14), and later to New York (April 18), to participate in two conferences organized by the Center for Economic and Social Rights; these bore the single title, "Oslo: Big Expectations, Bitter Realities." In Washington they also joined the large demonstration on April 16 against the World Bank and the IMF. In New York they met Charles Kenaghan from The Labor Committee for Worker and Human Rights.