Ramzi Abd el-Rahman Ganmam, 50 yrs old

In the late
1970s, at the age of 16, Ramzi Abd el-Rahman Ganmam, who trained as an
electrician, began working with his uncle in Israel as a day laborer. Due to
the Israeli closure on the Gaza Strip, Ramzi has joined the ranks of Gaza’s
unemployed,

For 24 years,
Ramzi worked all over Israel, in places such as Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, and
Ramla. Due to the difficulties associated with travelling through Erez crossing
(the border point between the Gaza Strip and Israel) Ramzi’s day-to-day life as
a labourer in Israel was exceedingly difficult. It required getting up between
1 and 2am, travelling to Erez, waiting – often for many hours – to cross
through the checkpoint, and then travelling to the job in time to begin the
day’s work, usually between 7 and 8am. Ramzi would work a full day and around
5pm faced the long journey back home to the Gaza Strip.

When asked why
he was willing to spend so many hours every day just travelling to work in
Israel, Ramzi replied simply that, “it was good money and I could take
care of my family. There is no work here.” The money earned in Israel
enabled Ramzi to provide his wife and six children with a decent standard of
living. He added that for the last few years he had an Israeli employer who
treated him very well and for that reason, in addition to the extra-income, he
liked the work. “He would pick us up at Erez and take us to the job. He
left us there to manage ourselves because he trusted us and was never
disappointed.” Ramzi added, “there is a saying from the Quran that
Muhammad said, every boss should pay his employees before their sweat dries. He
did that. He always paid us a good wage right there.”

As Ramzi says,
however, after 2000 and the outbreak of the second Intifada “all went upside down.” Due to tightened closure
restrictions, Ramzi – and thousands of other works in the Gaza Strip – was only
able to obtain work permits sporadically. Since 2004, he has been completely
blocked from crossing into Israel to work. In fact, by September 200 the
average number of workers crossing through Erez to Israel daily had dropped
considerably to 3,505. That number has stood at 0 since September 2004.[1]
Ramzi has tried desperately to find ways to support his family in Gaza but it
is impossible. “There is very little work of this type in Gaza because
there is no building material. So I do small electricity jobs for people. But,
often, I go work for them and they say they have no money and to come back at
the end of the month.” Ramzi indicated that in past month he had worked a
total of one week, which was typical.

Government and
international agencies have provided Ramzi and other workers with little help.
He participated in the Jobs to Work program through UNRWA, but a person can
only do the program for 6 months. Then he has to wait 2-3 years before becoming
eligible to participate again. Ramzi also partook in a similar program run by
the Ministry of Work, which also runs for 6 months, “but even that wasn’t
enough money to take care of my family. Sometimes I don’t have a shekel to give
to my kids to go to school.” Ramzi no longer qualifies for this work
program either.

In Israel,
Ramzi used to earn about $70 a day. Now, he estimates that on those days he
does work, he earns roughly 20 shekels, or $4. Due to this lack of income, Ramzi
is unable to make ends meet; the government has informed him that he has a
200,000 shekel ($57,000), electricity bill to pay. Ramzi says “I spent
most of the time working to provide for my family. I have no connection to any
political party and yet this is my situation. No one helps the workers.”
Chris Gunness, an UNRWA spokesman stated “It is hard to understand the
logic of a man-made policy which deliberately impoverishes so many and condemns
hundreds of thousands of potentially productive people to a life of
destitution.”[2]

 In the years he has been unable to work, Ramzi
has noticed a big difference in his health. He says it used to keep him strong
and happy because his job was physical. Now he doesn’t get any activity.
“If I went back to work now I know that I would feel younger again.”

When asked what
he would want to share with people he said, “the workers are ignored. All
we want is a solution. We want someone to listen to us.” Does he want to
go back to work in Israel? “Yes, that would be good. My old Israeli boss
still calls me to say that he has work and will hire me again. If Israel opens
tomorrow, I will work every day for a year”

Ramzi’s
unemployment is a direct result of Israel’s illegal closure policy, a policy of
collective punishment which has been applied periodically since 1991. Since
2007, Israel has imposed an absolute closure on the Gaza Strip, keeping its
borders continuously closed. Unemployment now stands at 45.2%,[3]
and the poverty rate exceeds 60%.[4]