THE Palestinian High Court ruled on Wednesday that an ongoing strike by Palestinian medics in the West Bank is illegal, as doctors staged a sit-in outside the government headquarters in Ramallah.
By ordering the doctors to return to work, the court decided in favour of a government petition filed on June 1st, which said that the medical union did not follow proper strike procedures, by failing to collect a written notification by over half of participants four weeks prior to the action.
While the strike is based on fair demands, the court said, it is ‘gravely harming the public interest’, following reports that patients are being left untreated. Doctors will face penalties if they do not return to work.
Head of the union, Jawad Awwad, said on Wednesday that the group would abide by the court’s decision, but had a responsibility to support the doctors who are determined to continue their strike, staging a sit-in outside the cabinet building on Wednesday.
Awwad had threatened mass resignations over the legal challenge, which he called ‘insulting’. ‘The decision taken by the government to go to court… is a stab in the heart of democracy and citizens’ rights, which grant all workers a right to strike,’ Awwad said on Friday. On Wednesday Awwad said 750 doctors had already stepped down.
The union is asking that doctors be paid based on experience and specialisation as well as a 20-per-cent bonus for insurance and overtime. They also want the health ministry to fill gaps in supplies and medicalequipment. Following the court ruling, union leaders met with Palestinian legislators to continue to press for their demands.
At the session, PLC member, and Fatah-bloc leader Azzam Al-Ahmad pledged support to the doctors’ case, implying that political changes underway may strengthen their position, referring to the planned June 6th announcement of a new unity government to replace the West Bank cabinet under the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation deal.
Najat Breiki, the general attorney representative arguing the government’s case, said that all citizens should abide by the court decisions, and noted that violating these decisions is crime punishable under law. Procedures for strike actions in the West Bank are governed by Article 67 of the Palestinian labour law, 2000 (amended 2008).
• Meanwhile, the crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was re-opened Wednesday morning after a four-day closure. The decision to open was made after Palestinian and Egyptian officials agreed on a set of mechanisms for the passage of Palestinian travellers.
From Wednesday onward, Rafah will open between 9am and 5pm and allow an average of 550 passengers per day to cross. The number of passengers was less than the 700 per day requested by the Gaza authorities, but higher than the cap of 400 set after travellers overwhelmed the terminal on its first day of operation on May 28.
Palestinian directors at the Rafah terminal Ayyoub Abu Sha’ar announced the breakthrough on Tuesday night, and said travellers on a list of passengers due to cross on the previous Thursday and Saturday would be given priority.
More than three months after former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resigned following 18 days of massive street protests against his rule, Egypt opened the Rafah terminal for all travellers except men between 18-40, allowing most Gaza residents to travel freely through the border for the first time in five years.
The border had remained largely shut since June 2006 when Israel imposed a tight blockade on Gaza after militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is still being held.
Rafah is Gaza’s only border crossing not controlled by Israel, and news of Egypt’s decision to reopen it was warmly welcomed in the coastal strip and the Egyptian streets, though Israel strongly criticised the move. But less than a week later, Egyptian authorities closed the crossing without informing Palestinian counterparts, frustrated Palestinian officials said, causing chaos as buses of travellers crossed the Palestinian terminal and found the Egyptian gate closed.
Dozens of Palestinians tried to storm the Egyptian border on Saturday morning, and the terminal reopened but only for pedestrians. Palestinian officials said the decision to allow passengers to enter only on foot was difficult to implement as many travellers were elderly or patients needing medical treatment. On Sunday, Palestinian authorities closed the terminal in protest.
On Monday, Egyptian authorities opened the border but the Palestinian side remained closed, amid ongoing talks to re-open the crossing between the Hamas-dominated government in Gaza and the post-Mubarak military government in Egypt.
Palestinian officials have been petitioning the Egyptian authorities to improve coordination, and over a published ‘blacklist’ of 5,000 names, principally Gaza residents currently inside the coastal enclave, who are barred from travel via the crossing with Egypt.
A senior Hamas official said last week that the Palestinians wanted Egypt to allow more travellers to cross each day, speed up operations at the border, decrease waiting times, and agree on regular operating hours.
• Egyptian border guards raided a tunnel used to smuggle cars between Gaza and Egypt, Egyptian security officials said Wednesday. The forces located the site south of the Salah Ad-Din gate in Rafah, on the Egyptian side of the border with the coastal strip.
Smugglers escaped through the tunnel to Gaza during the raid, the sources said, but the Egyptian guards seized four Hyundai vehicles. Egyptian security forces had received information that the tunnel was being used to smuggle cars from Libya into Gaza, they said.
The forces said they had tightened the security around the area ahead of destroying the tunnel.
Tunnels remain the primary source of construction materials, vehicles and fuel for Gaza, as Israel’s five-year-long blockade continues.