The First Intifada’s labor boycott paralyzed the Israeli economy and shifted its workforce sourcing

Evidence

In December 1987, an Israeli truck hit a vehicle carrying Palestinian workers in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, killing four. The tragic event triggered an unofficial national strike. More than one hundred thousand Palestinian workers boycotted work in Israel, which led to a dramatic halt in production, paralyzing entire sectors of the Israeli economy, especially construction. In response, Israel began to reduce its reliance on Palestinian labor. Throughout the 1990s, it expanded the recruitment of similarly highly exploitable workers from outside the region, including Romania, Thailand, and the Philippines. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 328

Categorization

• XREF: The exploited reserve army striking back and being replaced by an imported one echoes the law-merchant and social-capital readings of how labor pools are institutionally reshaped. — connects to: De-agrarianization turned self-employed Palestinians into wage workers in Israel, deepening dependency — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 326