مؤسسة ميزان لحقوق الإنسان

Organization for Human Rights Meezaan

Manifestations of Fascism in the Israeli Labor Market

Legal Articles

By: Lawyer Auni Bana

From the first day of the aggression on Gaza, it became clear that Israeli society was moving toward openly displaying its fascist nature, which it had long sought to conceal. This was evident in the overwhelming alignment of the vast majority of its political, social, academic, cultural, and media sectors behind the official and popular stance demanding, whether verbally, through actions, or in silence, revenge on the Palestinian people in Gaza and wherever they may be. To achieve this, voices in Israeli society called for disregarding international law and human rights principles, with some even attempting to interpret these principles as allowing such actions.

In Gaza, this position manifested in the unprecedented and devastating loss of civilian lives—women and children—along with the shocking scale of destruction to residential buildings and infrastructure. In the West Bank, it was reflected in a sharp increase in assassinations, arrests, and unleashing the settlers to escalate their crimes.

Within Palestinian communities inside Israel, the campaign took the form of a widespread, fear-mongering crackdown targeting activists and individuals from political, social, artistic, and student circles. So far, this has led to the arrest of hundreds under flimsy charges, and the filing of indictments against dozens with serious charges, including “supporting terrorism.” This has coincided with an outright confiscation of the right to protest and freedom of expression, granting the police unchecked power to use force against anyone who deviates from the official narrative.

Additionally, the crackdown has widely extended into workplaces in both the private and public sectors, a topic this article will focus on. Since October 7, the Israeli labor market has been engulfed in a frenzied competition among employers to identify “terrorism supporters” among their workers. As a result, hundreds of Arab workers have faced harassment and severe violations of their rights, reaching the point of being fired and denied essential financial and labor rights. Notably, women workers have borne the brunt of these violations.

Surveillance of Arab Workers

The surveillance of Arab workers has been carried out not only by their employers but also by their coworkers, who have competed to expose their Arab colleagues. In many cases, customers and clients have also engaged in this surveillance, threatening to boycott businesses and publicly shame them if their demands are not met. In addition, complaints have been lodged by organized racist groups who have taken it upon themselves to track down “Arab terrorism supporters” and publicly expose them, whether to the police or in their workplaces and educational institutions.

It is clear that the complaints and accusations against Arab workers are based on their social media posts or written messages in workplace chats, whether during work hours or on digital platforms such as WhatsApp. These posts and messages have been “discovered” and documented by employers or complainants, leading to charges of supporting terrorism and demands for action against them.

It is important to note that in some cases, employers or complainants have taken the initiative to conduct detailed searches of workers’ social media accounts and applications, sometimes going back years, hoping to find posts that could serve as “evidence” to accuse workers. There have been numerous instances where Arab workers have been fired for posts that had nothing to do with the events of October 7; some of these posts were made years ago and in entirely different contexts.

Upon closer examination, it becomes undeniable that the vast majority of the posts used as a basis for disciplinary action and dismissal are, in fact, normal and legitimate expressions of opinion, far from promoting violence or terrorism.

Content of the Posts

Many of these posts express grief over the killing of innocent people, such as sharing images of victims of bombings or news clips highlighting the suffering in Gaza. Some posts included Quranic verses or religious prayers for the protection of children and women, or for the souls of martyrs. Others simply expressed mourning through black backgrounds as a sign of grief or included calls for an end to the aggression, alongside proposals for political alternatives and solutions. Notably, some posts were published on October 7 itself, but most were made early in the morning before the horrific details of the day’s events unfolded, and these posts were deleted once the full scale of the tragedy became apparent. Therefore, it would be impossible to categorize these posts as supporting terrorism.

We emphasize that expressing grief and calling for an end to the aggression, while perhaps implicitly understood, should be protected under the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Targeting Arab Workers

From all of this, it becomes evident that the persecution of Arab workers is aimed at monopolizing the pain and suppressing any opposing or different voices. This is done by spreading fear and terror among workers. This is the essence of racism and fascism: while Jewish workers are allowed to express their grief and solidarity with their people, Arab workers are denied this right. If they do express themselves, they are branded as supporters of terrorism.

It is also important to mention that labor laws and regulations do not explicitly define the reasons that can justify disciplinary actions against employees. However, they certainly prohibit discrimination based on political or ethnic grounds and prohibit arbitrary dismissal. Therefore, most of the dismissals based on the aforementioned posts could be considered as arbitrary and illegal actions. In such cases, it is crucial to sue employers, where appropriate, to hold them accountable for their fascist actions.

Share:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *