\u200bOn the occasion of May 1st \u2014 International Workers’ Day \u2014 and drawing on the essence of this day as a revolutionary act that awakens the latent power of the working class, and as a platform for escalating union action, particularly in the United States of America, the Palestinian General Federation Trade Unions addresses this urgent appeal to the unions and labor forces in the United States of America, as a first step toward building real pressure that transforms solidarity into tangible and lasting tools of influence. From the trenches of steadfastness and suffering, and from amid the rubble of what were once factories, workshops, and sources of livelihood, we turn to you \u2014 our comrades in the labor movement in the United States \u2014 with an appeal rooted in the unity of class belonging and shared historical responsibility, and in the firm conviction that the power of workers, when united, is capable of reshaping the scales of justice in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bIn these difficult circumstances facing the world and our region \u2014 and Palestine in particular \u2014 Palestinian workers, especially in the Gaza Strip, are living through one of the most severe humanitarian and social catastrophes of the modern era. The cycle of production has been nearly completely disrupted, more than half a million workers have lost their livelihoods, and unemployment rates have reached unprecedented levels exceeding 80%, under a siege that has lasted for many years and amid widespread destruction of infrastructure and productive facilities. The damage has not been limited to the loss of work, but has extended to the comprehensive destruction of productive infrastructure \u2014 factories, workshops, and service facilities \u2014 uprooting the material foundation of economic life and leaving workers utterly unable to secure any source of income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bWe present to you a harrowing reality regarding the fate of Gaza\u2019s \u201cfood basket”: the agricultural and fishing sectors are being subjected to systematic eradication and total paralysis. More than 94% of agricultural land has been destroyed, and production has collapsed nearly entirely\u2014plummeting from 405,000 tons annually to a mere 28,000 tons. Out at sea, fishermen face death on a daily basis; Israeli warships have destroyed most fishing boats, burned their nets and equipment, and turned their search for sustenance into a massacre. Dozens have fallen as martyrs or been wounded, while others have been abducted to interrogation and detention centers under a hail of gunfire and shells. This has resulted in the total collapse of the food security system, the transformation of fertile lands into barren, contaminated terrain, and has left more than 560,000 people without means of sustenance, facing the very real threat of famine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bData reveals the catastrophic scale of the losses incurred by workers. Economic losses have exceeded $9 billion over a two-year period. As a result, of the destruction of the production sectors and the obstruction of workers’ access to their workplaces\u2014including within the territories occupied in 1948\u2014where approximately 220,000 workers once constituted a vital pillar of the Palestinian economy. Their sudden deprivation of work triggered a severe economic and social shock, leading to a decline in purchasing power and a surge in poverty and debt rates throughout society\u2014not to mention the ongoing targeting, harassment, and detention of the working class in both Gaza and the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bThe systematic crimes to which workers in Palestine are subjected intersect with the blatant Israeli targeting\u2014backed by the U.S. administration\u2014including factories, means of production, and the foundations of economic life, within the framework of a complex crime. This forms part of a compound crime in which political, military, and economic dimensions are intertwined, and aims to cripple the peoples’ capacity to work, produce, and survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bComrades in American Trade Unions and Labor Forces\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bThe ongoing catastrophe in Palestine and Gaza cannot be measured merely by unprecedented, catastrophic figures and statistics, but by its very structural nature; for the working-class community itself is being dismantled, and its capacity to reproduce its own existence is being stifled\u2014all amidst massive and comprehensive destruction of infrastructure. In the absence of any economic horizon, workers are being driven toward forced poverty, forced migration, or remaining trapped within a cycle of total helplessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bIn the occupied West Bank, the quest for work has transformed into a daily test of survival. Thousands of laborers set out before dawn, confronting checkpoints and walls, and navigating routes fraught with the risk of gunfire and arrest. Statistics reveal that 74 workers were killed over the past year while attempting to reach their workplaces\u201418 of whom were killed by direct fire\u2014in addition to more than 35,000 arrests and 1,500 injuries recorded over a two-year period, effectively turning the pursuit of a livelihood into a daily journey to the brink of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bIn a scene that unfolds daily, workers gather near gaps in the wall or military gates, watching the movements of soldiers and waiting for the opportune moment to cross. While some scale the fence, others dig rudimentary tunnels or squeeze through narrow openings\u2014facing at every step, the peril of gunfire, pursuit, or arrest. This suffering is not confined to the economic sphere; rather, it extends to profound human and psychological dimensions, as their families live in a state of perpetual suspense\u2014caught between the hope of a safe return and the dreaded news of an arrest, injury, or martyrdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bOur colleagues in the American Labor Movement…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bThe martyrs of this catastrophe are your colleagues\u2014your peers in both profession and class. They must not be reduced to mere statistics; rather, they were workers who produced, healed, taught, and saved lives. Consequently, targeting them constitutes a direct assault on the very concept of labor itself, as well as on the values upon which the global trade union movement was founded. It is from this standpoint of shared struggle\u2014and with a full appreciation of the significance and impact of your presence, particularly within the United States\u2014that we reach out to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bAccordingly, as we extend our greetings to you and to the working class worldwide, particularly the martyrs, prisoners, wounded, and bereaved, on the occasion of International Workers’ Day, we in the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions call upon you to transition from the stage of expression to the stage of action, and from symbolic solidarity to impactful solidarity. We hereby ask the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bOur colleagues and comrades\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bHistory is not written in statements, but in organized action. The labor movement that forged its rights through struggle is capable today of serving as a decisive force in the face of injustice, provided the will is present. Our people in Palestine\u2014and our workers in particular\u2014await from you actions that rise to the magnitude of the tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bLong live international workers\u2019 solidarity\u2026 Long live the laboring working class\u2014on this May Day\u2014striving for a new world governed by peace, stability, freedom, justice, and human dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u200bPalestinian General Federation of Trade Unions<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May 1, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u200bOn the occasion of May 1st \u2014 International Workers’ Day \u2014 and drawing on the essence of this day as a revolutionary act that awakens the latent power of the working class, and as a platform for escalating union action, particularly in the United States of America, the Palestinian General Federation Trade Unions addresses this urgent appeal to the unions and labor forces in the United States of America, as a first step toward building real pressure that transforms solidarity into tangible and lasting tools of influence. From the trenches of steadfastness and suffering, and from amid the rubble of what were once factories, workshops, and sources of livelihood, we turn to you \u2014 our comrades in the labor movement in the United States \u2014 with an appeal rooted in the unity of class belonging and shared historical responsibility, and in the firm conviction that the power of workers, when united, is capable of reshaping the scales of justice in the world. \u200bIn these difficult circumstances facing the world and our region \u2014 and Palestine in particular \u2014 Palestinian workers, especially in the Gaza Strip, are living through one of the most severe humanitarian and social catastrophes of the modern …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n