Employing the Enemy

Shortlisted for the Palestine Book Awards 2018 Thousands of Palestinians, including children, are building and working on illegal Israeli settlements. Their bitter toil entails a daily rejection of their rights and subjects them to dangerous working conditions. Employing the Enemy is a deeply moving narrative that paints a faithful portrait of these workers and their families. Matthew Vickery explores not only the rationale, emotions and consequences of such employment but also why and how people collude with their own oppression. In doing so he draws attention to a previously neglected aspect of the Palestinian experience, exposing these practices as a new, insidious form of state-sponsored forced labour.

Matthew Vickery is a journalist and researcher covering conflict, human rights and workers' rights issues throughout the Middle East, as well as extensively in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. His bylines include Al-Jazeera, Foreign Policy, Ha'aretz, The Times, and USA Today among others.

Introduction Part I: Employing the 'Enemy' 1. Employing the 'Enemy' 2. The Middleman and the Power of the Permit 3. Underpaid and Underage, the Child Workers of the Valley 4. Occupation's Ultimate Humiliation 5. The Wretched of the Holy Land Part II: Exploiting the 'Enemy' 6. Segregating the Labour Market, Stifling the Economy 7. The Creation of Precincts of Potential Employment 8. A Reserve Army of Labour 9. State-Instigated Forced Labour