#0202_A_View_From_East_Jerusalem

"'My husband went to the employment office today and fainted. Do you know where he is?'

A phone call was received from a Jerusalemite woman who is worried about what happened to her husband on Thursday, February 1st, at the employment office in East Jerusalem.

The first day of each month is when a large number of job seekers gather in front of the employment office. Since the morning, the phones in the Maan office in Jerusalem have not stopped ringing. All the callers said that they've been waiting in the long line since 7:20 am to be allowed into the office. The few who entered said that the hall was almost empty. A few minutes before 12:00, security personnel allowed people to enter.

82% of East Jerusalem residents live below the poverty line and only 11% of the women work. There are 200,000 people from Jerusalem who need guidance and training in order to find a suitable job, but all of them are served by one employment office that shares a building with the Ministry of Interior office.

The activities of WAC in Jerusalem include providing support and protection for job seekers and helping them obtain their rights from the employment office and the National Insurance Institute. WAC also helps to find a real workplace that gives its employees all the rights.

In the short video: The gate of the employment office.
Shot by: WAC Ma'an fieldwork team.

To Maan's report on poverty in East Jerusalem: https://goo.gl/7XpJQp "

– WAC Maan Facebook page

[Selected comments:]
– "The State of Racism"
– "This office is a humiliation and disgrace… May God help."
– "This is how we are treated in this democratic country because we are Arabs… Jaffa Street [employmen office] does not have such disgrace."
– "So what's the solution to waiting in this long line? To send people to a 'job search training' course in the Clal building [1]. Completely ridiculous… Just like we closed 'Amin' [2], we will close this center, which is only meant to degrade, confuse, sow bad thoughts and mix between men and women. We should object and refuse such a course and you in the Maan should expose the matter and raise awareness among people about the dangers of such actions."

—-
0202 Editor's Note:
[1] The Clal Building, also called the Clal Center, is a commercial and office building in the heart of Jerusalem, on Jaffa Street near the Mahane Yehuda market. The center includes a commercial center on its first floors, which was the first (and failed) attempt to establish an indoor shopping center in Jerusalem.
[2] The "Amin" company operated the Wisconsin Employment Plan in Jerusalem in the years 2004-2010 until the program was discontinued in Israel as a whole.

#East_Jerusalem #Employment_Office #Economy #Maan

https://goo.gl/8eKXEx

https://www.facebook.com/1675349376080655/posts/2052695218346067