Gaza teachers' strike adds to crisis

Thousands of unpaid teachers have begun the Palestinian school year with a strike that shut down classrooms across the West Bank and Gaza – a backlash that is testing the beleaguered Hamas-led government’s ability to survive.

The government, crippled by international sanctions, has so far enjoyed public support as it weathers the six-month-old crisis. But with schools shuttered, that may change.

“The Hamas government is in a very bad position now,” said Awwad Barghouti, who brought his son Saed to the El-Bireh high school outside the West Bank town of Ramallah yesterday, only to find it closed. “Either it concedes to the international community or it quits.”

Hamas, which took office in March after winning legislative elections, has rejected international calls to renounce violence and recognise Israel’s right to exist, despite sanctions by Israel and Western donors that have bankrupted the government.

Unable to pay the government’s 165,000 workers, Hamas instead has sought help from Muslim and Arab allies, literally carrying money into the Gaza Strip in suitcases. But it has raised only a tiny fraction of the money needed to pay workers’ back wages.

An Israeli military offensive in Gaza, launched after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier, has added to the government’s troubles. Some 200 Palestinians, mostly militants, have been killed in the two-month offensive.

In a sign of Hamas’ growing frustration, hundreds of gunmen deployed around schools in Gaza, Hamas’ stronghold, unsuccessfully trying to persuade teachers and students to hold classes yesterday.

In the West Bank, activists from the rival Fatah party stood in front of schools to enforce the strike, shooting in the air at times.

Yesterday’s strike was widely viewed as a tactic by Fatah, led by the moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to pressure Hamas to join it in a so-called national unity government. Abbas hopes the alliance will force Hamas to recognise Israel, helping lift the sanctions and enabling him to renew peace talks.

“This strike has nothing to do with the suffering of our people. This strike is politically motivated,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. He said the strike threatened to undermine negotiations on a unity government.

Abbas returned to his West Bank headquarters yesterday after four days of negotiations with Hamas leaders in Gaza. Late yesterday, the PLO’s Executive Committee, headed by Abbas, said the talks made little headway and accused Hamas of stalling.

Also yesterday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed a home belonging to a Hamas militant in the northern Gaza Strip, wounding two bystanders, Palestinian officials and witnesses said. The officials said the occupants of the home were ordered to leave about an hour before the airstrike.

The Israeli army said the airstrike targeted a weapons-storage facility. It confirmed that residents of the building were warned ahead of the attack.

The army yesterday said it has arrested two Palestinian militants in the West Bank of Tulkarem for trying to produce home-made rockets with backing from Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. The arrests took place on Friday, it said.