Palestine:
The Betrayal of Forced Retirement
By: Linda Maher
25/06/2020
Every glimpse at the crutch she leans on, reminds Suad of the
whirring of planes, the explosion of bombs, detached body parts and
splattered blood that she witnessed at central Sana’a’s Iman
University, and that haunt her to this day.
Fifty-five year old Suad Al-Barham is one of thousands wounded
in the ongoing Yemen war. In March 2016, she returned to her
homeland, Palestine, after sustaining an injury to her right
foot. She was working on her doctoral thesis in Methodologies
of Teaching Science at the time, and was on a scholarship from
the Palestinian Authority.
Suad returned to the West Bank and started to arrange work
through the Ministry of Education. Before travelling to Yemen,
she had worked as a teacher, and only a year later, found
herself locked in her house and forced to retire. Her journey
to Yemen ended with a disability and upon her return to
Palestine, her career came to a crashing halt.
Suad was one of 168 civil servants and 204 military personnel
on the West Bank who were forced into early retirement by the
Palestinian Authority. We spoke to 15 of them, including those
who had sustained war-inflicted wounds, were victims of
confrontations with the occupation, were former prisoners and
had disabilities.
Due to various health issues, these same people were forced
into early retirement, against their will, for being deemed
‘unfit to work’ – without medical or technical reports to
prove this. This is in violation of both the Palestinian Basic
Law (that is, the Palestinian Constitution), and international
charters and treaties signed by the Ramallah government. Some
forced retirement decisions were even issued after the legal
duration for the enforcement of the Temporary Labor Law had
passed.
On June 22, 2017, and under the government of Rami Hamdallah, the
Palestinian Authority issued a decision on Temporary Law No. 17 for
the early retirement of civil service employees, which was only
meant to last for six months. On April 20, 2017, it also issued
year-long Temporary Law No. 9 on the early retirement of military
personnel.
The number of forced retirees in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip, according to a statement by Undersecretary of the
Ministry of Finance, Farid Ghannam in 2019:
27,238
employees
28
Military personnel
18000
Civilians
9238
The number of forced retirees in the West Bank according to
human rights centres:
28
372
employees
Military personnel
204
Civilians
168
Total number of Palestinian employees in 2017:
153,000
Total number of retirees in 2018:
27,238
Secretary General of the General Union of People with
Disabilities Majdi Mar’i, says there is a high number of
people with disabilities in Palestine due to ongoing Israeli
attacks on the West Bank and air strikes on Gaza.
92710
Total number of people with disabilities in Palestine
Total population number in Palestine
4٬733٬357
2%
The percentage of people with disabilities of the total
Palestinian population
The number of people with disabilities in Palestine, according
to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for Population,
Households and Facilities in 2017
35%
Total workforce in Palestine:
The rate of unemployment among people with disabilities in
Palestine in 2018
The West Bank
The Gaza Strip
Palestine
Total
5,400
14,100
19,500
Relative distribution and the number of workers with
disabilities from Palestine by sector and region in 2018
according to the Central Bureau of Statistics
0.4%
Communication difficulties
0.4%
Difficulty with focus and memory
The most common disabilities in Palestine, according to the
Central Bureau of Statistics for population
The issuance of the early retirement law was an administrative
decision, and is in fact inconsistent with the legal articles and
international conventions signed by the Palestinian Authority.
In Wartime: Education Leads to Disability and Work Ends with
Retirement
The explosion at the Iman University was not the first act of
violence Suad had fallen witness to; she was there when Judge
Yahya Rabid, his wife and five children were assassinated in
the Al-Nahda neighborhood, north of Sana'a.
In a hoarse voice, she says that after this incident she felt
that her psychological state was unstable. Suad however,
insisted on staying to finish her doctorate, and managed to
pass the comprehensive exams after six years with the highest
score — an average of “very good”. Then, with the assistance
of the Palestinian embassy, she returned to Palestine.
In March 2019, the Palestinian Authority issued an emergency
budget after the International Monetary Fund demanded that the
bill of expenditures be regulated by wage reduction. In an
email to ARIJ, the Authority denied these pressures, and
reported that the most important reasons for issuing the early
retirement law is to give employees salaries that are higher
than the General Retirement Law grants.
This, however, did not materialize, as early retirees were
granted below-minimum wages, which in Palestine amounts to
2,470 shekels a month, according to the Central Bureau of
Statistics.
Expenditures in wages and salaries, according to the Palestine
Monetary Authority
50
thousand military employees
78
thousand civilian employees
Distribution of employees in 2019
A comparison between the numbers of employees in 2017 and 2019
according to the 2019 emergency budget report by the Coalition for
Accountability and Integrity - AMAN
Suad returned to Palestine and informed the Administrative
Affairs Department of the Jericho Directorate of Education
about her health situation. Contrary to her expectations, the
Ministry requested she return to work within two weeks. She
complied with the decision and worked for a whole month while
travelling between two schools in Jericho and Ramallah. Suad
then requested to be transferred to an administrative position
due to her injured foot.
She says: “They had me examined by a higher medical committee,
which decided that I would be fit to work as a teacher and not
as an administrator.” Suad repeatedly tried to get a copy of
the medical committee’s report, but the Directorate of
Education refused. On March 5, 2018 she received notice of her
forced retirement.
Not only did the retirement destroy Suad’s career, but it
meant she had to stop her injury treatment. She lost half of
her salary of 4,000 shekels (approx. $1170) as her pension was
set at only 2,000 shekels (approx. $585).
The General Retirement Law No. 7 of 2005 sets the age of retirement
at 60, with a 15-year service period requirement. However, the same
law gives those who do not meet this requirement the right to apply
for early retirement, provided that the person has completed 15
years of service and is 55 years old (or 50 for military personnel).
Suad’s sense of injustice prompted her to participate in the
meetings of a committee that defends the rights of retirees.
The committee official, Sultan Al-Rimawi, says that Suad's
referral to early retirement was forced because it surprised
her and was done without prior coordination. He elaborates:
“Early retirement in accordance with the General Retirement
Law happens in only two cases: In the first, the employee
requests early retirement, and in the second, a judicial
ruling is issued against the employee due to a misdemeanor
that violates honor and honesty.”
Sami Al-Jabareen, a legal adviser at the Independent
Commission for Human Rights and on the Board of Grievances,
explains that retirement in the event of a disability is
usually presented to a regional medical committee. It is also
taken to a higher medical committee headed by the director of
committees in Ramallah, and the retirement decision is then
issued on this basis. He highlighted how if an employee
suffers from a non-permanent disability, they can request
leave and then return to work.
Suad was not examined by any medical committees that proved
her to be unfit for work prior to her forced early retirement,
and she felt that her studies were all in vain. She also felt
that the injury she suffered was not at all significant to the
Palestinian authorities.
Five Percent
Nine months after Suad was forced into retirement, 51-year old
teacher Sanaa Nasser waited for a judge’s sentence on her appeal of
a similar decision. She took her case to the Higher Court of Justice
in an attempt to obtain the right to return to work. It took three
sessions before a ruling was finally made in December 2018.
The Civil Service Bureau reports that 64 cases of early retirement
were referred to the Higher Court of Justice. The court decided to
cancel the early retirement of 20 employees since the required
minimum service period of 15 years had not been met. The court
issued a decision to dismiss 42 cases while two cases remained
pending.
The prosecution’s justification that led the judge to reject
Sanaa’s appeal was that she was in “a critical health
situation, with a high degree of visual impairment, which is
in contravention of the laws and provisions of civil service”.
This is what made Sanaa appeal to the judge only for her case
to be rejected. The irony is that Sanaa was appointed as a
teacher in 1995 under special circumstances (due to her visual
impairment that she has had since 18).
At the time, she had applied for the position just like any
other graduate and was examined by a higher medical committee,
which confirmed that she had poor vision. In line with the
1999 Palestinian Law on the Rights of the Disabled, Sanaa’s
contract was renewed for a period of seven years until she was
appointed as a special case.
Sanaa was employed based on an article that stipulates that 5% of
employees of governmental and non-governmental institutions should
be persons with disabilities, as befits the nature of the work of
these institutions, and that the workplace should be equipped to
accommodate them.
Rights activist Majid Al-Arouri says that the early retirement
policy for people with disabilities is not only a violation of
laws and regulations, but it is also a violation of their
rights, and discriminates against people with disabilities. He
highlights the irony in the case of Sanaa and in other cases
in which early retirement was forced due to the same
disability that led to employment to begin with.
In its response to ARIJ’s questioning, the Palestinian Cabinet
denied that any employee with a disability appointed under the
5% clause was forced into early retirement. Additionally, two
returned to work after filing a suit, and based on a decision
by the Cabinet and a judicial decision from the Higher Court
of Justice.
6
62 employees
2018
fixed number of the total annual events
6
100 employees
2018
of the total events stemming from the clause on contracts
The number and percentage of appointments of people with
disabilities in government departments based on the general report
from the Civil Service Bureau
388
the total number of employees with disabilities
153
thousand: The total number of employees until the end of 2017
The appointment of persons with disabilities was distributed
according to gender, according to the staff bureau report
During her years of working as a teacher, Sanaa refused to
receive any exceptions due to her health. She was committed to
her share of classes and since 2012, worked in two schools –
as a teacher in one, and a librarian in the other.
In 2008, Sanaa was honoured by the Minister of Education for
her distinction, and received a certificate of appreciation.
Her performance evaluation was always rated as “very good” or
“excellent”. On March 5, 2018, Sanaa was celebrating with the
students who won first place in the Holy Quran Competition
that she had organized, when she was stunned by the retirement
decision.
Assistant Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers for
Legal Affairs Rami Al-Hussaini, explains in an email to ARIJ
that the Early Retirement Law gives the head of the government
department discretionary authority in retiring an employee. He
added that the employee’s wishes are the primary criteria for
early retirement. In a limited number of cases, however, this
happened through the nomination of the heads of bodies, and
the Cabinet did not interfere.
Othman HamadAllah, a lawyer for the Jerusalem Legal Aid and
Human Rights Centre, comments that the law does not take into
account the best interests of employees or their rights. He
notes how “unfortunately, in some cases officials and heads of
government departments have taken advantage of this article to
eliminate those whom they do not want in the department, and
they use it as a punishment, disguised by the law.”
HamadAllah elaborates: “Those same employees have very good to
excellent evaluations, and their files are spotless.” He added
that his office received four cases to defend based on
retirement due to a disability, one of which was Sanaa’s case.
Sanaa’s mother is old and has suffered the consequences of her
daughter’s retirement. The retirement decision calculated only
17 out of 23 years, and these are the years Sanaa spent
getting her education. The justification is that the first
seven years were signed by temporary contracts, so 50% of her
salary would be deducted. This has impacted her ability to
meet both her and her mother’s needs since her estimated
retirement salary was 2,000 shekels (approx. $585).
The retirement salary for those who have spent more than 15 years of
actual service is calculated according to Early Retirement Law No.
17 at a minimum rate of 50% and a maximum one of 70%. The salary may
not exceed this percentage, according to Article 4 of the law.
The Second Intifada: Al-Nimir Is Under Arrest
Sixteen years ago, Ahmed Al-Nimir, a member of the Al-Aqsa
Martyrs’ Brigades, fell in a puddle of his own blood when
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) shot at him. At the time, he was
defending the city of Qalqilya during the Second Intifada in
March 2003. According to the Oslo Accords, the city of
Qalqilya falls in Area A, which means it is completely subject
to the civil administration and internal security of the
Palestinian Authority.
The IDF bullets gnawed through his weak body, leaving him in a
50-day coma. When he opened his eyes he found himself
surrounded by occupation soldiers. They transferred him to
Ramleh prison where his health deteriorated, and he suffered a
heart attack. He was released on May 5, 2003.
Al-Nimir left prison, and the uprising drew to an end. The
aggression, however, left its lasting mark on his body in the
form of a physical disability in his foot. Today, the bullets
are still settled near his spine, affecting his tendons and
nerves. They cannot be removed for fear that he will become
paraplegic.
Based on the file of Al-Nimir’s service in the Al-Aqsa
Martyrs’ Brigades, and as one of the wounded, the Palestinian
Authority placed him in the Preventive Security Service in
2006, where he worked in security and camera monitoring.
The 35-year-old sergeant, Al-Nimir, served in the military for
only 11 years before he received his early retirement notice
on April 25, 2018 – without justification. He refused to sign
the decision, which he describes as “unjust”. He had to search
for a new job that would provide him with a livelihood. His
years of service do not exceed 12, and they do not provide him
with a retirement salary sufficient for a decent life for his
family, especially that more than half of it is going towards
paying off his bank debts.
Today, Al-Nimir works as a bus driver.
Built on Falsehood
Al-Nimir’s retirement decision was issued on April 25, 2018 –
that is, after the end of the application period of the
temporary law for early retirement of military personnel. The
provisions of the law extend its application for only one
year, and this makes the decision null, according to lawyer
Othman Al-HamadAllah. The lawyer confirms that Al-Nimir is not
the only person whose retirement decision was issued after the
end of the temporary law, and that there are other similar
cases among the military.
Al-HamadAllah stresses: “The heads of the agencies who issued
these decisions exceeded the legal period allowed for them to
work, as per the law of service for the Palestinian security
forces.” The law states that “the heads of the main security
services are appointed for a period of 3 years, and the
position may be extended for only one year”, that is, 4 years
in total. Most of them have exceeded this legal period;
therefore, these decisions are invalid, according to him.
ARIJ sent a fax to the Military Management and Regulations
Authority, asking for a response, but has yet to hear back.
Director of the mobility and advocacy unit at the Jerusalem
Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre Abdullah Hammad, clarifies:
“A government employee is supposed to be governed by only two
laws: the civil service law and the general retirement law.”
These two laws regulate the conditions of a public position
from its inception until retirement. There is no vacuum in the
legislation in order to issue such temporary laws. He added
that the absence of the Legislative Council is what gave the
executive authority the opportunity to issue a set of
legislations and laws under the justification of necessity.
Article 47 of the Palestinian Basic Law states the following: “The
Palestinian Legislative Council is the elected legislative
authority, the term of the Legislative Council is four years from
its date, and elections are held periodically once every four
years.” The Legislative Council was in a state of disruption and in
abeyance since the end of its first session on July 5, 2007 due to
the division that took place on June 14, 2007 until its legal and
constitutional term expired on January 25, 2010.
1987: The First Intifada
In the 1960s, Bassem Abed grew up in the “Aqabit Jabir” camp
in Jericho, after Israeli gangs expelled his family from their
home in the village of “Khirbet Al-Louz” in the Jerusalem
municipality. In the camp, he and a number of his peers
contracted polio. This left him with a physical disability
that has stayed with him ever since.
Today, Bassem’s hair is grey. He takes the military uniform
out of his closet and remembers his beginnings in the “Aqabit
Jabir” camp where he grew up with a handicapped foot. That was
not a hindrance, though, he says with great pride: “I was the
only one who would save his wages to make bombs.”
Soon he paid the price for his struggle, “I went to study at
Hebron University for a year but that did not pan out as they
imprisoned me the day before the entrance exam. I then went to
Birzeit University for a short period, but I was imprisoned
the night of the exam.”
In 1979, he left Palestine for Syria. In the Hamouriyeh camp,
Bassem moved between the factions of the Palestinian
organizations and spared no effort in participating in
operations with the resistance, despite his handicap.
Bassem returned to Palestine and moved between prisons. In
1980 he was sentenced for 21 years, and lawyers intervened to
reduce the period to six years due to his foot paralysis. He
was released in a prisoner exchange deal in 1985. He
participated in the First Intifada and was arrested time and
time again, until his fourth and final imprisonment, which he
was released from in 1994 when he turned 32. All arrests were
due to military operations, bombings, distributing flyers and
organizing solidarity marches.
Bassem was employed at the Political Guidance Authority in
1996 in the Administrative, Financial and Military Affairs
Department, and he held the position for 24 years, only to be
notified of his salary reduction in June 2018. He went to the
Pensioners Association, and was taken aback by news of his
referral to early retirement. Bassem was not notified of his
retirement decision; neither in writing, nor by telephone. He
did not file a request for retirement, nor was he examined by
a medical committee to determine his health status.
The Cabinet, headed by Muhammad Shtayy, responded to ARIJ in
an email stating that it had formed a legal committee to study
each case individually. The response highlighted that cases of
retirement and financial compensation were the most
problematic and complicated files inherited by the current
government.
Today, Bassem is drowning in bank loans which he borrowed to
build his home. He has mere crumbs remaining from his pension,
and he cannot find another job because of his disability.
Bassem says: “Basically, a nation can never have enough men,
even if they were martyrs. It is very hard to be humiliated by
a fellow countryman who says, ‘We do not want you. Who are you
and what did you give to this nation?’”