(Reuters) Ori Lewis - Israeli entrepreneurs at the Mishor Adumim industrial park in the West Bank are rethinking their business strategies to deal with a Palestinian boycott of goods made there. Concurrently, businesses say a stricter enforcement of labor law that forces them to pay Palestinians the minimum Israeli wage is more damaging than Palestinian trade and labor sanctions. Some 4,500 Palestinians work at Mishor Adumim, which has dozens of factories and workshops making products that include construction materials, plumbing fixtures and aluminum frames. Palestinian officials say some 25,000 Palestinians are employed in settlements in the West Bank. Citing tough economic realities, Avi Elkayam, a restaurateur who chairs the park's manufacturers committee, predicted Palestinians would find a way to stay and work at Mishor Adumim because "they need to support their families."
2010-05-28 10:21:10Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive