[Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News] HRW says Jewish farmers pays PalArab kids more than average ADULT wages in PA

Human Rights Watch has released a 74 page report alleging that Palestinian kids are being employed illegally in Jewish-owned farms in the Jordan Valley.

Others have critiqued the report.

NGO Monitor pointed out:

As with many other HRW accusations and publications on Israel, as documented by NGO Monitor, the claims in this publication are entirely unverifiable and based solely on interviews. HRW provides no evidence that it even attempted to confirm any of the claims, many of which quote children, independently. Furthermore, in this instance, the allegations are inherently unverifiable, since there are no permits, pay slips, paperwork, or other documentation for the supposed child workers. Indeed, according to an Israeli official interviewed in in response to HRW’s allegations, “It is a horrific lie. There is no justification for employing children, not just morally and legally but financially as well.”

As the publication’s methodology section makes clear, HRW’s researcher (Bill van Esveld) began with a conclusion condemning Israel, and then sought evidence to persuade the intended audiences, particularly journalists readily influenced by NGO allegations.

UK Media Watch noted:

A 74-page report by HRW on the Israeli use of illegal Palestinian child labor appears to have misled readers by using a photo which actually illustrates the Palestinian use of illegal Palestinian child labor.

(After this was noticed, HRW silently changed the photo on the report.)

But let's say that HRW's report is accurate, just for fun. It means that Arab kids working illegally get paid more by Jewish farmers than Arab adult farmers get paid under the PA!

HRW says:

Children working in agricultural settlements earn very low wages. All of the Palestinian adults and children whom Human Rights Watch interviewed earned far less than the Israeli minimum wage, which was 23 shekels ($6.20) per hour for adults and between 16 and 18 shekels ($4.30 and $4.86) per hour for children at the time the research for this report was conducted. Most earned only 60 to 70 shekels per day ($16 to $19)... most workdays lasted 7 or 8 hours, except during peak harvesting times.

This paragraph contradicts itself. If children are paid between 16-18 shekels an hour and are working between 7-8 hours a day, that means their daily wages range between 112 and 144 shekels a day, twice the amount of 60-70 shekels HRW claims in the very next phrase!

112 shekels is $28 a day. 144 shekels is $36 a day.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the average male worker in the PA gets paid $26 a day, the average female $21.

When HRW is saying they are being paid "very low wages," they are purposefully not saying the whole truth.

The kids don't sound quite so exploited anymore, do they?

However, we cannot believe a word HRW says. As CAMERA reports:

HRW researcher Bill Van Esveld claims that Palestinian children "have no option to work on Palestinian farms. Most of them don't exist anymore."

However, this VOA article from February notes:

According to the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry, there are 1,000 Palestinian farms in the Valley employing 12,000 workers. They produce crops for local consumption as well as for export to Arab countries, Europe and Asia.

How many farms were there in the Jordan Valley under Jordanian rule? We don't know. HRW certainly doesn't even try to find that out. They just say "most of them don't exist."

The bias is, as usual, obvious.

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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News at 4/15/2015 05:30:00 AM