"Palestinian Voices: Feminist Thought As A Tool For Resistance"

First International Conference, June 28-29, 2007

Mr. Mtanes Shehadeh

A researcher at Mada al-Carmel, in the field of economic and governmental policies towards Arabs living in Israel. Has a B.A. in economics and international relations from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, an M.A. in political science from the University of Haifa, and is currently preparing for a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University on the subject of political economy. He has written severed studies and research papers on Israel’s economic policies towards the Arab Palestinian minority, which have covered the field of impoverishment policies, the issue of Arabs in the labor markets in Israel, development prevention policies pursued with regard to the Arabs in Israel, and reports on racist policies towards the Arab population in Israel.

Women and the Economy in the Shadow of the Racist Policies of the Israeli Economy

This contribution aims to present the main features of the economic situation of the Arab woman in Israel, by analyzing the economic policies pursued with regard to the Arab minority in Israel. It is argued that in studying and understanding the dire economic reality of members of the Arab minority, and hence of Arab women in the State of Israel, research approaches should be employed that combine the political and the economic, and the national and the economic, and should not be restricted to the use of purely economic research approaches, or to focusing on social characteristics within the community.

This presentation stems from the premise that a partitioned economy and partitioned labor markets exist in Israel: the central-Jewish market, and the local-Arab market. The economic relations between the two markets are determined by the interests and needs of the central-Jewish market. Those interests are based on two main axes, the first of which reflects the basic economic, ideological structure of the Zionist project, which has shaped goals and economic policy in general (and in the labor market in particular). Governmental policies in this domain emanate from that structure, even after the passing of fifty years since the founding of the state. The second axis reflects the changes that have occurred in recent years as regards the ideology and economic policy of the state, the transition to a liberal economic regime, and the adoption of the rules of the game of the free market and of globalization.

We also clarify in this contribution that the relationship between the two markets and the dynamics within the Arab economy and the local labor market explain the economic situation of Arabs living in Israel in general and the position of Arab women in particular. It also accounts for the reversals in the levels of the participation of women in the labor markets and unemployment rates since the end of the 1990s, as compared with the early 1990s, and explains the composition of the economic fields and vocations of Arab women who participate in the labor market.