A glimpse at the Palestinians who build Israeli settlements

It's a startling fact: The workers building Israel's West Bank settlements have generally been Palestinians - even though Palestinians widely consider these communities a toxic threat to their dream of an independent state.

Now comes a twist: earlier this year, the Palestinian government passed a law forbidding work in the settlements - and its determination to stamp out the phenomenon is being sorely tested in recent weeks, as a settlement building boomlet has emerged in the West Bank.

With the Palestinian economy facing double-digit unemployment, the issue has sparked some soul-searching and debate.

"It is immoral for us - totally immoral for us - to work in settlements," said Economics Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh, an enthusiastic supporter of the law which passed in April and bans Palestinians from such work.

Abu Libdeh said the ban - which imposes fines of up to $14,000 and jail time of up to five years for violators - will eventually be enforced. But for now, he said, the government is holding off while it searches for ways to help workers switch jobs.

About 21,000 Palestinians currently work in settlements, either in construction, agriculture or industry. Their ability to return to the settlements in recent years - after a period of violence from 2000-2005 which saw the two peoples separated almost completely - has been key to the mini-revival of the Palestinian economy.

But it is also helping the settlements prosper and expand.

Some 300,000 Israelis live in more than 120 settlements across the West Bank - almost a threefold increase over two decades of peace negotiations. Another
180,000 live in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make their capital.

In the settlement of Ariel on Wednesday, Palestinian laborers readily admitted they were torn between politics and paychecks.

Dozens of them mixed cement, laid bricks and arranged red tiles on the roofs of 48 new apartments at a dusty construction site in what is already a town boasting 19,000 residents.

Most work eight-hour shifts five days a week and earn between $35 and $55 per day - which is somewhat less than what Israeli workers would cost, but more than what is generally available to Palestinians in the West Bank. There, similar jobs usually pay $25 per day in the Palestinian cities and $15 in rural areas.

Sitting inside a yellow tractor, Abed Abdel-Karim, 41, said he'd been working in settlements for 15 years. He said they threaten the future Palestinian state but said he has no other way to earn a living. He acknowledged it was a problem, but "it's not my job to fix it ... I'm married and have kids. I don't want to be a millionaire. I just want to pay my bills."

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