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Nov 19, 2014

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this post definitely raises an interesting question. There are calls out, here in Bet Shemesh as the post refers to but also elsewhere around the country including in Haredi enclaves, to stop employing Arabs and to stop supporting stores that continue to employ them.

All these people, including many Haredim, are they still going to be makpid about buying only Arab produce and no Jewish produce (hetter mechira and otzar haaretz)? Will the same people now stop supporting the Arab produce industry? Will the same people now stop supporting the Arab terror industry?

It is definitely a paradox, to boycott Arab employment but to only buy Arab produce.
It is definitely something to think about.




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8 comments:

  1. The two issues are unrelated. Employing Arabs can be seen as a security issue (understandably so in view of the reports that one of the Har Nof terrorists worked in the makolet next to the shul). When Arabs are employed in Jewish neighborhoods, their presence seems normal. Terrorists can use this as cover to get to a "soft target" without any hassle. Buying Arab produce does not do this. I'm not saying I'm for or against either one, but you can support one and not the other without being hypocritical.

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    1. You beat me to it.Calling this a paradox is an indication that one sees the issue of not employing Arabs as racially motivated, not security motivated. This is not a "tag mechir" style petition, "Let's get the Arabs back," but an idea (correct or not) stemming from security concerns.

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    2. Why would it be racist? In both cases it's about giving jobs to Arabs. In one it welcomes them into our neighborhoods, in the other it weakens the Jewish economy by sending money out of the Israeli economy and by transferring more State-authorized farm-able lands to Palestinian hands to keep up with "yivul nochri demands." In both, money shifts into the Arab economy - and likely along with a lot of "charity" as well.

      Maybe someone decides to only care what happens up close in their neighborhood, while another decides to care about the national security picture. Why is that racist?

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    3. It is one thing to say (even if statistically it is wrong) that Arab workers have shown themselves to be security risks, and as such we do not want them into our neighborhoods. It is quite another thing to say that buying cucumbers from Arab farmers in some amorphous way negatively impacts Israel national security. I would say that those who as a matter of principle will not buy yevul nochri would say that they don't wan't to give any business to Arabs, period, not because they think that it will cause a national security crises. By the way, has anyone in the security establishment advanced the idea that buying yevul nochri heightens any national security risk? One could also argue the opposite; that the more gainfully employed Arabs there are, the less likely it is that they will turn to terrorism.

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  2. yoni - you dont think there is some xenophobic fear, based somewhat on racism, in place right now?

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    1. There's a fear, but it's of terrorism. Whether or not some of it is racism is disputable (I'm sure it's at leas a small factor), but irrelevant. The security fears are real. Real security fears should not be ignored simply because there are other motives at play as well.

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    2. I am not going to comment specifically on this case, but I would remind those living across and even near the green line (I am in the latter category) that our long-term interests can only include coexistence with the arab populations of Israel and some possible future state ( and if you reject the latter, than you implicitly endorse the former) so doing things that alienate you from your neighbors on a massive scale may not be a great idea.

      As to yoni's claim, yes, there is fear of terrorism, but real security fears should respond to actual security threats which to me sounds like extensive vetting of employees, not across the board firing and boycotting. Remember, whatever building in Israel you are now in, there is a more than 99% percent chance that arab workers played a large role in building it.

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    3. MJ - I wasn't commenting on whether or not the security fears were valid or not. Just that they are separate from the factors involved with yevul nochri. About the people who built my house, even if they were terrorists, since they are gone, they no longer pose a threat (except that they're now working on the project down the block :).

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