Right-wing Israeli group creates booklet listing businesses that employ Palestinians

A grandson of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, best known for his belief that Arabs should be ethnically cleansed from historic Palestine, is leading a movement to document and boycott all businesses in Israel that employ Palestinians.

The plan was discovered when 19-year old Meir Ettinger was reported to the police for walking around the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem and asking merchants whether they employ Arabs. One Palestinian merchant became suspicious that Ettinger may be planning an attack against himself or other Palestinians working at the market, and called the Israeli police. When police questioned Ettinger, they found that he was working on a booklet to help promote a boycott of Palestinian businesses, and Israeli-owned businesses that employ Palestinians.

Source

Ok, hold up now. The world wide boycott against Israel has been called racist and antisemitic. What exactly does this classify as? Making a list of all business that employ Arabs, so you can boycott them, isn't that racist as well?

Can't say I blame the store owner for calling the police, imagine that the other way around, a Palestinian going from business to business listing who employs Jews.

Personally, I find it disgusting, but if they want to boycott them instead of attacking them, by all means, but stop calling the boycotts against Israel racist. They aren't, they are boycotting products sold by Israel that are produced by mostly Palestinians.

Such strange times we live in.

The group calls itself the ‘Hebrew Labor’ project, and organizers say that it has twenty members, all residents of Yitzhar settlement.

The right-wing Israelis organizing the booklet say that they are merely providing a service for Israelis who wish to boycott Palestinians, adding that there is nothing illegal under Israeli law about producing such a booklet.

Ahh, only 20 members? Well I do feel better about that.

Then they wonder why the hate. But dont worry, someone will try to downgrade it, or they will simply call you antisemitic, thats my prediction.

can you imagine the other way around. someone keeping books listing places that employ jews.

i don't think we'd be having this conversation if that was the case.

reply to post by Saltarello

or they will simply call you antisemitic

If reporting the facts makes me antisemitic, I wear that label with pride.

reply to post by randomname

i don't think we'd be having this conversation if that was the case.

no, we would, but it would be about the Israeli military strike against Hamas targets operating "fronts" that pose as legitimate businesses. but I digress....

Like I said, either way, my alarm bells would be ringing too. and just to be the first to say it, the Nazis started listing businesses that were owned by or employed Jews before the Pogroms started.

but anyways, a group of 20 people? not that worried, if this radical group had more traction I think the story would be bigger.

Originally posted by phishyblankwaters
Like I said, either way, my alarm bells would be ringing too. and just to be the first to say it, the Nazis started listing businesses that were owned by or employed Jews before the Pogroms started.

My thoughts exactly. Im starting to wonder things that I may not be able to discuss here, or in any board for that matter, related to the final solution, guess we all know where Im going.

It just strikes me as odd that after all they claim they have been through, they still do this kind of stuff, wich brings me back to my former point.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters

Making a list of all business that employ Arabs, so you can boycott them, isn't that racist as well?

Citing he's a religious Jew, motivated by religious ideas, it cannot, by logic, be classified as "racism", which is based on no other considerations but race.

In this case, he's motivated by political considerations in recognition of the danger Arabs i.e. the PA, and other Arab political consortium's pose to the state of Israel; particularly in its being a state for Jews.

If you want to talk about racism, why not point out Jordan or Saudi Arabia which officially prohibits Jews from living or visiting the country. No mention of this at all, even though this is a de-facto case of racism, whereas in the case of Israeli's boycotting Arab businesses, this has more to do with the politics of preserving a Jewish state, then it does with hating Arabs.

For instance, Bedouin Arabs and Druze are friends of Israel, who serve in the IDF, and Meir Kahane himself was friends with many of these people.

It isn't racial, its political.

They aren't, they are boycotting products sold by Israel that are produced by mostly Palestinians.

Want to elaborate on that?

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


That's pretty horrible. Hopefully he is just one of a few bad apples. I would hate to think that a lot of people share his attitude.

Anyone who moves into the settlements has to have less than questionable ethics at best so I wouldn't be too surprised if this animosity towards Palestinians is a little more wide spread than let on.

OH JEEZ, I WONDER WHY THE HATE FOR ISRAEL??

stupid racists, screw them.

reply to post by dontreally

Citing he's a religious Jew, motivated by religious ideas, it cannot, by logic, be classified as "racism", which is based on no other considerations but race.

The dictionary will tell you there is a difference between bigotry and racism but in my opinion they're exactly the same thing.

reply to post by dontreally


Now that I think about it the article says Palestinian not Muslim.

Leave it to you to turn this into a religious debate

The OP was correct in using the term "racism".

reply to post by dontreally

this has more to do with the politics of preserving a Jewish state, then it does with hating Arabs.

by boycotting JEWISH businesses that employ ARABS? how is that not about race?

why not point out Jordan or Saudi Arabia which officially prohibits Jews from living or visiting the country.

Maybe because that has absolutely nothing to do with this particular story or thread?

I wonder if they plan to mark the buildings of those business's employing Palestinians.

This is clear racism, no need to dance around claiming otherwise.
However what puzzles me is that the source and OP says that there are 20 people (out of what, 7 millions? By the way i fear that there are more then 20, several hundreds are more like it. Still it is tiny minority.) who are behind it. It also says that Israeli police detained the man - who is grandson of Meir Kahane ,rabbi who suggested the transfer of all Arabs from Israel - and still it is Israeli fault? What is it? Kinder-garden?
Your country does not have 20 racists(or sadly several hundreds)? Grow up.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

As usual, you make no sense.

Race: an arbitrary classification of modern humans, sometimes, especially formerly, based on any or a combination of various physical characteristics, as skin color, facial form, or eye shape, and now frequently based on such genetic markers as blood groups.

Bigotry: stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.

There IS a difference between bigotry and racism, as there is a difference between the mind and body.

Racism is based on a purely superficial dislike of someone else's appearance, whereas bigotry, despite it being a word treated in a negative light, seems to have a more rational basis in an intolerance of someone elses creed, belief or opinion. Thus, the former is based on physical considerations, whereas the latter is based on mental considerations. This IS NOT in any way shape or form, racism. The end.

I wouldn't even classify a Jewish boycott of Arab business's 'bigotry', because it is based on a political situation in which the stated purpose of a Jewish state - a state for Jews, is in jeopardy. Jews like the late Meir Kahanes grandson understand that if Arabs get a state in the west bank/Gaza (not to mention their demands to make it contiguous), Israels economic heartland is in peril, or, alternatively, if Israel annexes the westbank and integrates "Palestine's" 1.5 million Arabs, Israels Arab population grows to a percentage of 45% of the total Israeli population, giving them a sizable demographic, and thus an ability to alter Israels identity.

So, the only rational solution, if you're a Zionist who supports a state for Jews, just as there are 22 states for Arabs, is to deport (and not "ethnically cleanse", which implies something along the lines of what the Nazis did to the Jews, or what the Turks did to the Armenians..Deporting a recalcitrant population is not ethnic cleansing, otherwise, the Poles and Czech "ethnically cleansed" the Sunderland of its ethnic germans) Arabs from the Land of Israel, to Jordan (the land these people should be living in anyhow) or Lebanon.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed


Of course, a Marxist like yourself will always want to utilize the harshest possible terms to demonize your opposition.

No, its NOT racism, because we don't judge someones motives by what WE think, but what he himself thinks. If hes a religious person, then he believes Arabs need to leave Israel for RELIGIOUS reasons.

Case closed.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters

by boycotting JEWISH businesses that employ ARABS? how is that not about race?

Are you that simple?

This Jew is the son of a late Rabbi. He understands "Jew" not in its ethnic sense, although that sense may be valid at some level, but at its religious sense. He understands the Arab opposition to Israel to be more religious AND racial (in the sense of a pan-Arab federation of the middle East and North Africa) then simply racial....

So, the term Jew is not like any other ethnic distinction, because it carries a religious connotation. A Jew is a convertto Judaism. When he says boycott Arab businesses, he means, boycott the businesses of non-Jews, which would be akin to a Muslim saying, boycott the businesses of non-Muslims. Since this is the Jewish holy land, that would make sense.

reply to post by phishyblankwaters


It seemingly never matters,. I've yet to see any of you ardent anti-Israel posters make a thread on it..

It is nice to see that some are doing their job by coming in here and muddying the waters with the race, religion, political, Etc. debate.
The thing is the israelis are just as, if not more guilty of what they claimed happened to the "jews" in ww2.
Soon they will have the israeli muslims, christians, wearing a crescent or cross on their lapel for easy identification.
All because they have some backing for now because of some folks that were misquoted from a book and blindly believed what they were told.

Offtopic, why is my coffeecup called a coffeecup?
Because my Dad told me it was called a coffeecup and I believed.

reply to post by dontreally


So when racism has a religous justification it is ok? The Holy Book inspires hate essentially. and you say as such it is ok to be racist to Arabs. If Germany wanted to keep Germany a German Catholic state and started making booklets on businesses that employ foreigners and Jews, I am sure you would be calling it racist.

Nice to see you advocate ethnic cleansing.