UNI World Executive Board: Israel should stop blocking communication services in Palestine

This week in Nyon, UNI’s World Executive Board endorsed the call from UNI affiliates Palestinian Postal Service Workers Union (PPSWU) and the Jawwal Employee Association for an upgraded communications infrastructure in Palestine. 

Israel currently bans access to 4G and 5G frequencies, making modern internet service impossible and establishing unfair competition advantages with nearby Israeli networks. The ban also puts Palestinian employment at risk. 

Similarly, Israel controls the Palestinian access to postal services from around the world, services which has been dramatically cut back since the Gaza war. This is a further attack on the rights of Palestinians to communications services.

In a mission to the West Bank last May, the minister responsible for these services explained to UNI General Secretary Christy Hoffman and others that he was helpless to modernize Palestine and move towards statehood when these basic services were blocked under the Israeli occupation.  

UNI’s Hoffman said:

“Our World Executive Board was clear that Israel should end the ban of 4G and 5G in Palestine and restore a functioning postal service. These are basic services which should not be denied under any circumstance. We stand in solidarity with our union affiliates on this point – a small but necessary step in their fight for dignity. 

“We further expressed our outrage and horror at the ongoing denial of humanitarian aid – especially to North Gazans.  We cannot remain silent in the face of this horrible suffering, with hundreds of thousands facing starvation. Senior UN officials now say that aid is at its lowest point of the war. This is not acceptable. All governments should insist that aid be increased.”