At Barkan Industrial Zone near Ariel, the biggest Jewish town in the northern West Bank, Palestinian workers at a plastics factory say they prefer to work with the Israelis because they get paid double than what they would make working for a Palestinian employers.A lot of people who call themselves liberal would prefer to see Ramadan Islim unemployed rather than work happily in a Jewish-owned factory in Samaria.
“We don’t talk politics. I come to here work,” machinist Ramadan Islim from nearby Salfit tells The Media Line. “We work together and for the five years I’ve been here there haven’t been any problems. What happens outside of the factory is the business of the politicians. We are here to work. We have a home and family to support.”
Yehuda Cohen, the plant’s manager, says he moved his factory here from near Tel Aviv because he needed the space. He adds that that the government did not offer him any incentives despite promises.
“After I came here, I can say that the Palestinian workers are the best workers that I can find in Israel,” Cohen tells The Media Line.
A lot of people who call themselves liberal would prefer to see Ramadan Islim and Yehuda Cohen hating each other to justify their own political opinions and demands.
A lot of people who call themselves liberal are anything but.
(h/t Ian)