Shardha Rajam*
Introduction
“What can be said in the face of such depravity, such horror, such devastation? What is there to write beyond flyers for the next mobilisation, petitions demanding the end of our institutions’ and states’ complicity, direct interventions in public political debates? Is this the time for theory at all?”
- Sai Englert & Gargi Bhattacharyya[1]
It is without answers to the above questions that I write this piece.
This is a time of deep, interlocking, and simultaneously occurring crises. Rising authoritarianism and militarism, growing wealth gaps, social security cuts, and ever-increasing unemployment have rendered the lives of millions of people unliveable. As neoliberalism squeezes people beyond their capacity, globalisation encourages capital’s vagabond nature – displacing "difficult" labour quickly and disentitling workers from basic human rights and decent working conditions, in the pursuit of the cheapest available labour unlimited by geography. Authoritarianism, fundamentalism, and imperialism allow states to employ arbitrary violence and wreak havoc in the lives of workers, while capital sits in wait to benefit from the labour of dehumanised and violated populations.
It is in this context that New Delhi and Tel Aviv finalise a Framework Agreement to have Indian workers migrate to Israel. According to a press release Indian workers will be engaged in select Israeli industries such as construction and caregiving – i.e. jobs typically seen as unattractive by Israeli citizens. Indian workers – compelled by the high unemployment and pervasive impoverishment in their home cities – are signing up in troves to seek work opportunities in the genocidal state. This is not out of ignorance or poor decision-making – Indians are well aware of the situation in Israel and that they are replacing the violated victim Palestinian population. However, they are left with no option except to migrate in order to access a liveable life. Particularly in India, as unemployment rises[2] to become the biggest economic challenge for the Indian government, a decade of jobless growth has "discouraged" workers and plunged the labour force participation rate[3]. A debilitated labour force bearing the devastating marks of the COVID-19 pandemic and with no means to earn a decent income at home is what lies behind the movement of Indians to Israel.
In this article, I explore the intricate ties between migration and racial capital in the context of Indian workers migrating to Israel based on the promise of better pay. In Part II, I discuss how capitalism, the underlying economic context of this migration, is inherently violent. It is important to emphasise this violent nature of capitalism to fully grasp the insidious nature of the Framework Agreement. I also explore how the ongoing genocide in Palestine benefits Israeli capital by further dispossessing a people who can become “ideal workers.” Indian and other migrant workers who are now replacing Palestinians in the Israeli economy are expected to become "ideal workers” – i.e. not make demands for better work conditions, not unionise, and devote all their time to work due to the ready availability of dehumanised and desperate Palestinian labour who can at any moment be called to serve Israeli capital.
In Part III, I discuss Israel’s legal regime governing migrants. This is relevant since Israel has promised to treat Indian migrant workers as citizens as per the Framework Agreement. However, there are no means of thoroughly monitoring or evaluating this commitment, and the situation is especially concerning given similar past agreements between Israel and other nations (such as Turkey), where migrants have been overworked, exploited, financially tied and bound to their Israeli employers under the threat of deportation. I discuss some relevant cases to contextualise the current regime governing migrant workers, questioning the veracity of the promise to treat Indian migrants as citizens.
Finally, I conclude by noting the need to bring greater critical attention to the Framework Agreement, which has not garnered adequate attention, and the strength and resilience of migrant workers to resist the Indian government’s commitment of workers to serve the genocidal state.
The Many Violences of Capitalism
Violence is Inherent in Capitalism
Prior to the discussion on Indian workers migrating to Israel, it is important to recognise that genocide and capitalism work in tandem. Indeed, violence is inherent in the internal logic of capitalism – it is intentional and structural.
Capitalist accumulation of wealth is possible because of the constant devaluation of labour. Ultimately, this means that while one class profits, another class gradually becomes unable to meet even its fundamental needs. According to Leech, such human-made suffering caused by people’s diminished ability to meet their needs must constitute violence – even though it may not always manifest as direct physical violence. Moreover, the structures on which capitalism rests also furthers the devaluation of labour. Some examples are slavery, casteism, and patriarchy – each of which create and maintain deep social inequalities and injustices, which allows for one class of people to accumulate wealth at the cost of others. Despite this internal logic, capitalism presents itself as liberating because it assumes people are free to contract and enter into market relations. However, merely because people have the freedom to contract and engage in the market, does not mean that they are exempted or protected from violence; Under "the niceties" of wilful contract lies economic compulsion, wage theft and according to Fraser, “brute violence” of capital.
Aside from this inherent and structural violence, capitalism does not shrink away from using other violences in service of capital – whether apartheid, genocide, atrocity crimes, or crimes against humanity. Each of these phenomena benefit capital immensely by allowing one class of people to endlessly accumulate wealth by dispossessing another not just in terms of labour, but also property, social identity and time. I discuss this, along with some examples, in more detail below.
Capital Benefits from Genocide and Other Violences
Genocide creates the perfect conditions to accumulate profits through forced labour. A population facing intentional destruction, serious bodily or mental harm (threat thereof or actual) and other conditions of life intended to bring about its physical destruction, would make “ideal” workers––i.e. workers who do not fight back against capital’s excesses. According to Fenelon, genocide accompanies every phase of world capitalism – whether it was the wealth extractive genocide in the Caribbean in the fifteenth century, the “market slave systems of the transatlantic ‘exchange’ of labor and land profits,” Nazi Germany’s wealth-extracting holocaust, or the extensive genocide of the Native Americans and other indigenous peoples. Closer to home, consider the Bengal famines of 1770 and 1943-44 which killed millions of people to fulfil the gluttonous British empire’s revenue requirements. More recently, there have been instances of corporate complicity in torture in Iraqi prisons and forced labour performed by Uyghur women in Xinjiang. Scholars such as Stel and Naude have detailed how capital can benefit from such crimes of atrocity, whether actively or passively complicit.
Thus, capital is built and rests on the continued violence against subordinated populations and the exploitation of their labour.
Indian Migrant Workers in Service of the Genocidal State
Life Conditions at Home
In India, as the rapidly increasing impoverished classes become prisoners of economic compulsion on their own land, migration (whether foreign or interstate) appears to be a marginally better alternative. Moreover, this dynamic is encouraged by institutions such as the World Trade Organisation, which envisage temporary labour migration and the remittances they send back home as an important step in expanding global markets. Imagining remittances as development tools legitimises the shrinking of foreign aid to migrant-sending countries and the creation of a "Global South" labour force – which caters to the bespoke requirements of host countries[4]. What often gets left out in the "development" discourses on migration is the pervasive economic insecurity which compels migration in the first place – the abuse, threat of deportation, violence, and trauma that intersect in oppressive and complicated ways to dehumanise migrants. It also invisibilises the skewed logic of capital – while these workers are indispensable to sustaining the major economies in the Global North, as well as their home countries in the Global South, their lives are made unliveable through surveillance, abuse, and border control (Lee, Johnson and McCahill have detailed surveillance measures that migrant domestic workers have been subject to, while the IOM, ILO and UN Women have written about the violence and abuse faced by women migrants).
Therefore, according to Ness, 2023, migration is a form of economic imperialism.
Conditions of Palestinian ‘Migrant’ Workers
Until the genocide in Palestine, the Israeli apartheid regime incorporated Palestinian workers (even if only in peripheral industries), using immense surveillance and a rigid border control regime – dispossessing them economically, socially, and temporally. Before October 2023, the immense dependence of the Palestinian economy on Israel meant that Palestinians often smuggled themselves across the border to earn even a modest income – doing jobs that Israeli citizens do not want to do. With regular demolitions of their homes, imprisonment and other forms of abuse by Israel, Palestinians had very little choice except to service the colonising state under humiliating conditions. A highly carceral border regime meant even those Palestinians who have mere last names associated with persons classified as security threats were not permitted to work in Israel. As Palestinians crossed the intense border checkpoints, they were ultimately dispossessed of time as well, since passing through the checkpoints and passing intense scrutiny each day took several hours, with people regularly fainting while waiting to cross. As one worker states:
“If you take a person, like a machine, if you operate it for 24 hours, if it would usually last for ten years, it will only last for five years instead. For the workers, it is the same”.
According to one study, after they were permitted to work in Israel, Palestinians often didn’t “feel like Palestinians anymore,” because of how socially and mentally isolated they were compelled to be – ultimately dispossessing them of their identity.
This is not a coincidence. Economic dependence of Palestinians on Israeli capital is carefully crafted and works together with the apartheid regime enforced through a long running militarised occupation. This has allowed Israel to benefit from the fruits of an exploited and dehumanised population. Furthermore, this has permitted most Jewish citizens of Israel to enjoy an affluent life akin to lifestyles in post-industrialist countries. However, owing to the ongoing genocide and the prohibition of Palestinian workers from continuing their work in Israel, the latter now seeks other migrant workers to fill this void. Israeli citizens’ unwillingness to take up these jobs has exposed the instability of its domestic economy – particularly in the agriculture and construction sectors.
Indian Migrant Workers
The methodical export of Indian workers into Israel started a short while before October 2023. In May, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel and the Indian Minister of External Affairs entered into the Israel-India framework agreement, titled "Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Temporary Employment of Workers in Specific Labour Market Sectors in Israel" to implement a protocol on labour movement, and to ensure the recruitment of construction workers and caregivers in India. The terms of this agreement, especially regarding labour rights and protections guaranteed to Indian migrant workers (if any), remain unknown.
To understand the situation, different members of the Parliament have been posing questions about the Framework Agreement. For instance, in February this year, a member of the Lok Sabha, Shri Ravikumar D, questioned the Minister of External Affairs on how the government is protecting Indian workers emigrating to Israel. The Minister responded:
“The Government accords the highest priority to the safety, security and well-being of Indian nationals abroad, including Indian workers. As per the Framework Agreement and Implementation Protocols signed with Israel, Indian workers shall enjoy equal treatment with respect to labour rights as Israeli citizens and shall be provided with proper lodging, medical insurance and relevant social security coverage as well as wages and benefits as set out in law”.
However, there is little information – except the Israeli government’s own proclamations – about whether this is indeed the case. While the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has been advertising widely for Israeli jobs, there are few details of the contract or contractual protections available for these workers. In fact, workers are expected to pay for their own tickets, and the NSDC has been charging money as a "facilitation fee." Moreover, the Indian Emigration Act, 1983 also allows the Government to prohibit emigration if Indian people can be exposed to “serious risk of life” in that country because of “reason of outbreak of hostilities or civil war or civil commotion or political disturbances.” However, the Government has not indicated any concern or action taken to protect Indian migrant workers being recruited by Israel.
Another question in the Indian Parliament regarding the number of workers who have migrated to Israel shows about 4825 workers had already migrated as of August 2024, with Uttar Pradesh contributing a whopping 4415 workers; Currently about 32000 Indian migrant workers are employed in Israel, and according to the Vice President of the Israeli Builders Association, it is hoped that about 50,000-1,00,000 Indian migrant workers will be engaged in due course.
This is unsurprising because Indian workers continue to be seen as cheap, rights-less, and “excellent tempered” – capital’s code for submissiveness.
Despite Indian and other migrant workers being killed in Israel, the government remains silent on the issue, claiming that migration allows Indian workers to seek better opportunities. Trade unions such as the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, All India Trade Union Congress, Indian National Trade Union Congress, and Hind Mazdoor Sabha amongst others, have already questioned the government’s “despicable” proposal to send workers to Israel to work in an active war zone. The Indian Transport Workers’ union added that thousands of its members would refuse to “load or unload weapons bound for Israel” in solidarity with Palestine, while other unionists in a statement said “such a step will amount to complicity on India’s part with Israel’s ongoing genocidal war against Palestinians.” The government for its part, has refused to even acknowledge such resistance, claiming no such objections from Central Trade Unions regarding steps to ensure workers’ safety has been made.
Brothers in Arms
The larger context of the relationship between India and Israel is not just the world’s capital huddling together, but the fact that the Hindu nationalist government in power in India sees the Israeli Jewish state as an ideological ally, thereby allowing such export of labour without any moral compunctions.
Back at home, the Hindu nationalist party views Muslims lives as disposable, permitting mob lynchings, demolitions of Muslim homes, disentitlement from citizenship, and finally, openly calling for the genocide of Muslims. While India’s treatment of its Muslim people may not operate the same way as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, the violence meted out is certainly similar. In fact, in October 2023, a flood of disinformation targeting Palestinians began to spread in India, using an Islamophobic narrative to publish fake stories about atrocities committed by Palestinians against Israeli civilians. The sentiment is clear – if India does not support Israel against Muslim Palestinians, “in the future, India could also face conspiracies and attacks like Israel.” A prominent news anchor claimed, “Israel is fighting this war on behalf of all of us.” Indians have also volunteered to join the Israeli army, claiming “we both are victims of Islamic terror.” In line with this, Indian migrant workers have also been made to understand that these jobs in Israel will not be available to Muslims.
Racial Capitalism Abroad
Israel’s visa regime – where migrant workers necessarily must be tied to their employer to be able to work in the country – particularly in the construction industry (which Indian migrant workers are joining) is known to involve constant surveillance and long hours of work under dangerous conditions enforced through the threat of deportation, detention and migration control measures. Tying migrant workers to their employers and sectors of work ensures that unattractive sectors shaped by poor work conditions do not have to compete with other sectors with better work conditions. While one may argue that workers will be entitled to higher wages compared to Indian standards, migrant workers will ultimately be receiving less than the average salary received by their Israeli counterparts. Further, the cash in hand they receive is closer to the minimum wage amount in Israel.
When Israel started a similar arrangement with Turkey, it argued before the Israeli Supreme Court that this visa regime is not coercion, since the workers were directly recruited by the government and did not have to pay high recruitment fees and therefore did not accumulate debt which they were working to pay off. Therefore, it could not be considered bonded or forced labour. It was also argued that the conditions of work were much better than other jobs for migrant workers. However, should a worker choose to leave their job without completing the contract, the employer company could still access workers’ money and property without conditions and for any sum it deemed fit. Moreover, the court also dismissed evidence showing that workers had suffered immensely – the company did not refute most of the evidence from petitioners that showed “low wages, long hours, restrictions of free movement and contact with the outside world, and threats and violence against ‘deserters.’” In fact, as of 2022, these conditions continue, as the arrangement with Turkey remains in operation. Finally, as the minority opinion in the case points out, if the working conditions were indeed good compared to conditions of other migrant workers, any kind of binding would have been unnecessary.
While on the one hand, the Israeli Supreme Court denounced the binding of migrant workers to their employers as a violation of workers’ liberty and dignity and as a “new form of slavery” (the Binding Arrangement judgement), on the other, it has repeatedly affirmed and approved new forms of binding in select sectors. Despite the human rights violations found by the Israeli Supreme Court in binding agreements for migrants, in 2007, the High Court of Justice accepted the Israeli state’s position that the state had a “special interest” in the arrangement of workers employed through the agreement with Turkey, and that migrant workers do not enjoy the right to free choice of employment. Ultimately, judgements after the Binding Arrangement case withdrew from the constitutional principles recognised in it, making it difficult for migrant workers to realistically exercise their labour rights.
Conclusion
Israel has a history of relying on migrant workers and their devalued and underpaid labour to sustain its economy. Prior to October 2023, Israel was able to rely on deeply dehumanised Palestinian workers to perform unattractive jobs. Since then, the cracks in its economy have revealed themselves, compelling Israel to enter into agreements with other countries to send cheap labour with “good temperament.” In the Indian context, Israel’s need for workers ties in seamlessly with the high unemployment and impoverishment in migrant-sending states. With little information or evaluation about the conditions of Indian migrant workers currently in Israel, and in spite of clarion calls by Indian unions to refuse to hand over migrant workers to the genocidal state in a war zone, the government continues to affirm its obligations under the Framework Agreement. Furthermore, although extravagant promises have been made by Israel to treat Indian migrant workers as citizens, one must note that the Israeli judiciary has maintained that migrant workers can be employed under conditions different from citizens, particularly in the construction and caregiving sectors where Indian migrant workers are going to be engaged in. The promises made in the Framework Agreement have no monitoring mechanism and it will be a challenge for human rights organisations in India to truly check the working conditions of Indian migrants employed in Israel.
This is possible because the Hindutva government in power and the Jewish states are brothers-in-arms, working against ‘common enemies’. They are brothers in one more sense – neither state is party to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and neither state has ratified the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187). Ultimately if Israel fails to comply with International Labour standards, Indian migrants will likely have little remedy available for the violation of their rights.
With the number of unemployed youths in India doubling since 2020, it is important to consider the unliveable conditions at home, made so by a government refusing to adequately address economic difficulties. As workers are encouraged to seek employment abroad there is little discussion on state responsibility to protect these workers now employed in a war zone, much less the responsibility of the state to provide liveable conditions at home.
As Patnaik notes, through the Palestinian genocide, imperialism has revealed its truly barbaric self. As capitalist nations across the world give their blessings to Israel to continue the genocide, it is glaring now that the genocide is merely one indicator of the rising unity amongst global capital, which seeks to face the workers of the world through this united front. These workers are no longer just displaced, disentitled and abused Palestinian workers, but workers from across the world – in India, Sri Lanka and other countries, construction workers, agricultural workers and peasants, fisherfolk, and others.
[1] Sai Englert and Gargi Bhattacharyya, “Capital’s Genocide: A Conversation on Racial Capitalism, Settler Colonialism, and Possible Worlds after Gaza” (2024) 23 Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies 165 <https://doi.org/10.3366/hlps.2024.0337>. [2] See also, ‘Viral Video Shows Thousands Competing For Single Job Opportunity In Pune’ (News 18, 20 January 2024) <https://www.news18.com/viral/viral-video-shows-thousands-competing-for-single-job-opportunity-in-pune-8747737.html> Accessed 14 December 2024; See also, ‘Over 93000 candidates, including 3700 PhD holders apply for peon job in UP’ (The Economic Times, 30 August 2018) <https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/over-93000-candidates-including-3700-phd-holders-apply-for-peon-job-in-up/articleshow/65604396.cms?from=mdr> Accessed 14 December 2024. [3] See also, ‘Unemployment rate in India (2008 to 2024): Current rate, historical trends and more’ (Forbes India, 17 October 2024) <https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/unemployment-rate-in-india/87441/1> Accessed 14 December 2024. [4] For instance, the start of the Filipino nursing programme to cater to US needs; See Laurinne Jamie Eugineo, ‘From US Reign to Brain Drain: The Mass Emigration of Filipino Nurses to the United States’ (Harvard International Review, 21 October 2024) <https://hir.harvard.edu/from-us-reign-to-brain-drain-the-mass-emigration-of-filipino-nurses-to-the-united-states/> Accessed 14 December 2024.
*Shardha Rajam is a feminist lawyer and Visiting Faculty at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru; She works on labour and migration issues in the Asia Pacific region with the Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development.
Comments