Israeli workers to go on general strike

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Israeli public sector workers are set to go on a general strike next week, which will shut down all public services, including public transport.

“From next Tuesday we will embark on an open-ended public sector strike,” Israeli main trade union, the Histadrut labor federation, said on Thursday.

The union is demanding a 3.5 percent annual wage raise for all 750,000 public sector employees over three years, an almost 11 percent increase.

However, Head of the Finance Ministry’s Wage and Labor Agreements Department Ilan Levin has offered a 0.5 percent annual increase.

Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Ofer Eini, the chairman of the Histadrut labor federation, are scheduled to meet on Friday over the issue.

If the strike goes ahead, it would shut down all offices, companies, the seaports and airports, university administrations, and other public institutions.

The extent of the strike could also depend on the progress in the negotiations between the Histadrut and the treasury.


'Israel hogging Gaza water sources'

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More than 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip lack access to basic humanitarian supplies such as shortage of water resources.

Many Palestinians are forced to purchase bottled water for their daily needs, as water coming from their taps has run dry, a Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday.

The Gaza aquifer is the only source of water for residents of Gaza. Reports show that 90 percent of its water is not suitable for human consumption due to high levels of nitrate and salinity.

In an interview with Press TV, public health coordinator Tracey Wise said, “Because of such limited amounts of water in Gaza that’s acceptable for human consumption, mostly this is the shallow, coastal aquifer, and this aquifer is being over-pumped, so much water is being taken out to supply the needs of Gazans, that you have much more intrusion of sea water.”

“And then also you have upwelling of this very, very old water that has high salinity and high concentrations of other pollutants,” she added.

Meanwhile, Israel has installed huge pumping stations all along the shared border, diverting water before it reaches the aquifer of Gaza.

Israel has imposed a blockade on the region since June 2007, preventing the entry of hundreds of items, including essential industrial materials needed to repair the water infrastructure.

During the Gaza war, bombs completely destroyed three water wells and much of the water system infrastructure in Gaza.

The Coastal Municipal Water Utility (CMWU) has reported Israel’s daily water consumption per capita at around 320 liters while the consumption of Palestinians in Gaza is less than 90 liters.

“We need to start to think about unconventional water sources, [such as] the sea, along with other solutions,” said CMWU Director Munzer Shuplaq.

According to recent statistics conducted by CMWU, residents of the coastal enclave will not find healthy water to drink by the year 2015.


'Bahraini Shia freedom only for praising govt.'

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An activist says freedom in Bahrain is only for admiring the ruling monarchy and the Shia majority will face repression if they talk of the kingdom’s problems.

“Freedom is there only if you want to praise the regime … [But] when you want fairness and equal opportunities to all; when you want the stopping of denaturalization or retaining the land that is occupied by the ruling family, then you will become terrorist, enemy to the country and so on,” Saeed al-Shahabi from Bahrain Freedom Movement said.

“What you have is absolute monarchy which wants to rule, [as it] wants everybody to be silent towards these repressive policies,” he added.

Al-Shahabi described the elections in the Sheikhdom as “incidents that last for a week or so as we had before in 2004 and 2006 and nothing has changed.”

“The rule of law is absent. The constitution is imposed by the polls and there is direction in who will appear in front of the law and who is excluded from that law,” he opined.

Al-Shahabi also warned that as long as there is “discrimination against the majority who are Shia, we will continue to have this repression and oppression.”

Last week, parliamentary elections were held in Bahrain, which saw thousands demonstrating against what they insist is discrimination by the Sunni-led government.

Shias say they are discriminated against in housing, health, and education, in addition to government sector jobs.

Shias comprise 70 percent of Bahrain’s population, yet hold only 17 of the 40 seats in the directly-elected lower house of parliament.

Additionally, the upper house, or Shura Council, also has 40 members that are entirely appointed by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifathe and has vetoing power.

Moreover, the Bahraini king appoints all the country’s ministers.

The government came down hard on the Shia opposition and human rights activists leading up to the elections in August and has reportedly arrested more than 250 dissidents that were protesting the election campaigns.