Tough Choices

The media asks

What do the settlers Jewish residents say?

And the answer is

Settler Spokeswoman Aliza Herbst noted that some settlements communities themselves ban Arab labour, sometimes due to security concerns, but it remains attractively cheap and abundant.

She said she supports the Palestinian government's efforts because she would prefer employers were freed of the financial temptation and hired Jews instead.

"I hope they succeed," she said.

And the background story is

Despite new ban on work in settlements Jewish communities, the Palestinians are building them

It's a startling fact: The workers building Israel's West Bank settlements Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria have generally been Palestinians — even though Palestinians widely consider these communities [!] a toxic threat to their dream of an independent state.

Now comes a twist: earlier this year, the Palestinian government passed a law forbidding work in the settlements communities — and its determination to stamp out the phenomenon is being sorely tested in recent weeks, as a settlement building boomlet has emerged in the West Bank.

With the Palestinian economy facing double-digit unemployment, the issue has sparked some soul-searching and debate.

^