Qassam Muaddi
The New Arab / April 25, 2023
“We were exposed to punitive measures after the 2016 strike, where many teachers were forced into early retirement, while others suffered salary cuts,” the source said. “Yet, we came back to the strike because our conditions haven’t changed.”
The Palestinian “Teachers’ Independent Movement”, the unofficial body leading the Palestinian public teachers’ strike since 5 February, said in a statement on Monday that the majority of teachers support the strike and the strike will continue.
According to the statement, the movement conducted a consultation among teachers which revealed that 70% of teachers support a full general strike, while only 18% support partial strike.
The statement came in response to declarations of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh last week, where he said that the Palestinian Authority’s government will impose punitive measures against teachers who continue to abstain from classes.
Shtayyeh also said that the teachers’ strike had “gone beyond the limits of a union protest”.
Palestinian teachers declared general strike in early February after their January salary slips did not include the 15% raise agreed upon in August of last year. Striking teachers also protest the delay of authorization by the PA for the formation of an independent teachers union, which was also agreed upon last year.
“Punitive actions against us might intimidate some, but it can’t break the movement,” a source in the movement’s leadership said to The New Arab.
“We were exposed to punitive measures after the 2016 strike, where many teachers were forced into early retirement, while others suffered salary cuts,” the source said. “Yet, we came back to the strike because our conditions haven’t changed.”
“We are still in poverty, and without union representation, and we will not back down after all that we have gone through to keep the strike going,” stressed the source.
“Pressure can succeed in submitting some teachers individually, but to solve the crisis and end the strike the government needs to speak to us collectively and meet our demands,” they added.
Palestinian teachers announced sit-ins in front of the Education Ministry offices in all occupied West Bank cities on Tuesday and called upon students and parents to join in support.
Qassam Muaddi is The New Arab’s correspondent in the West Bank
