Hamas rejects social security bill proposed by Ramallah

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Hamas has rejected social security legislation proposed by the Ramallah-based Palestinian government -- legislation due to go into effect early next month.

In a Tuesday statement, Hamas said the methods employed by Ramallah for drafting the legislation "violate Palestinian law and circumvent the institutions mandated with discussing and approving laws”.

The Palestinian Legislative Council -- Palestine’s parliament -- has remained dormant since 2007 due to fundamental political differences between Hamas (which runs Gaza) and the Fatah movement (which controls the West Bank-based Palestinian government).

Hamas rejected certain provisions of the legislation in particular, which, the group said, “disregard the rights of Palestinian prisoners and martyrs and those of their families”.

According to informed Palestinian sources, Palestinian prisoners and martyrs [i.e., those killed by Israel] enjoy no rights under the proposed legislation.

In its statement, Hamas said the law “doesn’t contain any mechanisms for ensuring the preservation of rights, private or public”.

On Monday, thousands of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank demonstrated against the proposed legislation.

Demonstrators also called for the resignation of Palestinian Labor Minister Maamoun Abu Shahla, who is also chairman of the Ramallah government’s Social Security Administration.

The ongoing campaign against the law was launched on social media platforms by a number of Palestinian activists.

The legislation calls for deducting 7.2 percent of private-sector employees’ monthly salaries for a social-security fund (which employers would also be expected to pay into) and setting the national retirement age -- for both men and women -- at 60 years.