McDonald's Confirms 'No Arabic' policy at its restaurants in Israel
Ali Abunimah & Nigel Parry, The Electronic Intifada, 5 March 2004


McDonald's Corporation today confirmed that it has a policy banning its employees from speaking Arabic in its restaurants in Israel, despite the fact that Palestinian citizens of Israel form 20% of its workforce, and Arabic is one of the two official languages of Israel. The Corporation denied, however, that Abeer Zinaty, a former "Excellent Worker 2003 -- McDonald's Israel," was fired because she spoke Arabic on the job.

EI co-founder Ali Abunimah received a statement from Julie Pottebaum, a spokesperson for Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's corporation, after EI contacted the company about the allegations contained in an article in Al-Ahram Weekly.

EI also issued an action alert to its readers, prompting calls and emails from all over the world, urging McDonald's to investigate allegations that it had a no-Arabic policy, and that at least one employee had been fired for violating it. EI received copies of emails sent to McDonald's from concerned readers in the US, the Czech Republic, and Jordan among other countries.

The McDonald's statement said that it was "absolutely not true" that Abeer Zinaty had been fired because she spoke Arabic on the job, and asserted that,
"her employment was terminated by her supervisor, a Palestinian Arab who also speaks Arab, for performance-related reasons."

At present EI cannot evaluate McDonald's claim specifically regarding the case of Abeer Zinaty, but is making efforts to obtain further information.

At the same time we are outraged that McDonald's has confirmed that it has banned the use of Arabic by employees at its 80 restaurants in Israel. The McDonald's statement said:
"As the largest quick-service restaurant employer in Israel, [McDonald's Israel is] proud that about 20% of its employees are Israeli Arabs and another 20% are Russian immigrants, which reflects the general population of Israel. Israeli Arabs and Russian immigrants are also represented in the many levels of management. While Hebrew, the common language between all employees, is required to be spoken when on duty in order to best conduct business and best serve our customers, no one has ever been let go for speaking their own language."

EI can see no justification for banning Palestinian citizens of Israel from using Arabic, their native language, a native language of the country and one of only two official languages of Israel. This policy directly contradicts McDonald's stated principles encouraging and celebrating diversity, fairness and respect for all its employees. It not only discriminates against Arabic-speaking employees, but also Arabic-speaking customers.

It is unimaginable that in its American restaurants, McDonald's would prohibit the use of Spanish, the most-commonly spoken language in the United States after English. In a context where Palestinian citizens of Israel face documented, systematic discrimination in employment, education and public services, McDonald's ought to be setting an example of equal treatment for all. Instead, it has, like so many other companies working in Israel, apparently chosen to make its Arab employees and patrons second class citizens.

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*** Sig will be edited -> see rule #5 regarding political/religious content
Theodore Herzl, founder of the World Zionist Organization: "Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment... Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly."

McBusted: Mounting evidence supports claim McDonald's Israel fired worker for speaking Arabic
Ali Abunimah & Nigel Parry, The Electronic Intifada, 10 March 2004


The Electronic Intifada today publishes an exclusive investigative report by Jonathan Cook detailing evidence that supports the claim by a former worker at McDonald's Israel that she was fired for speaking Arabic on the job. We renew our call on our readers to contact McDonald's Corporation about this disturbing matter and demand justice for this and all its workers.


The Problem

Last week, Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's Corporation admitted in a statement sent to The Electronic Intifada that its licensee in Israel maintains a policy requiring all its workers to speak only Hebrew. McDonald's has banned Arabic from its premises even though it is the native language of its Arab employees who are Palestinian citizens of Israel, and is one of Israel's two official languages, along with Hebrew.

But the company asserted that it was "absolutely not true" that the worker, Abeer Zinaty, who had previously been recognized as an outstanding employee, was fired for speaking Arabic on the job.

Today's report reveals that:


The Electronic Intifada has obtained a copy of a handwritten statement from a manager in McDonald's Israel that clearly lists that Zinaty was fired because she spoke Arabic on the job.


Zinaty's firing was discussed by the Labor, Welfare and Health Committee of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. In a written statement, the Committee calls Zinaty's firing by McDonald's "inhumane and immoral" and "calls upon the McDonald's corporation to reinstate the employee."


Zinaty spoke exclusively with The Electronic Intifada to tell her side of the story and refute the version from McDonald's Corporation.

McDonald's Corporation has over thirteen thousand McDonald's restaurants worldwide, over 80 in Israel and dozens more in Arab countries.


The Solution


In the light of this new evidence EI urges its readers again to contact McDonald's Corporation to:


Say that you are aware that there is new evidence supporting the claim that Abeer Zinaty was fired for speaking Arabic on the job and that McDonald's explanations so far are unsatisfactory and inconsistent;


Express your opposition to McDonald's stated policy requiring all employees in McDonald's Israel restaurants to speak Hebrew, and prohibiting its Arab employees from speaking their own language with each other or with customers, even though Arabic is native to the country, and one of the two official languages of Israel;


Demand that McDonald's Corporation immediately reinstate and compensate Abeer Zinaty, and rescind all discriminatory measures against Arab employees in line with the recommendations of the Israeli parliament's Labor, Welfare and Health Committee;


Demand that McDonald's Corporation ensure that the rights and dignity of its workers of Palestinian origin in Israel be respected and that the no-Arabic policy be immediately and unequivocally rescinded.


You may contact McDonald's by the following means:

Mail:
Mr. Jim Cantalupo
Chief Executive Officer
McDonald's Corporation
McDonald's Plaza
Oak Brook, IL 60523

Telephone:
1-800-244-6227

E-mail:
Via McDonald's contact page


Please write original letters and do not simply copy & paste the information above. As always, be brief, polite, quote accurately, and include your name, address, and telephone number


Send a copy of your letter or any response you receive to [email protected]

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*** Sig will be edited -> see rule #5 regarding political/religious content
Theodore Herzl, founder of the World Zionist Organization: "Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment... Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly."

Honest reporting part two.

Nah, I view the first article as uniformly good news, policies like that just fuel the anger and the hate that invariably ends up increasing the incidence of terrorism.

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Although I'm not inclined to pay much attention to the articles from the electronic intifada, it's definitely good to see that Israel is getting rid of the hard hat policy. That makes no sense - either make every unsecured worker wear a marked hat regardless of race, or forget the markings completely. Or just complete the security checks before allowing people to work at all (which would make sense).

Actually the article doesn't say exactly how they're getting rid of the policy. I presume they're just disposing of the marked hats, but I hope they're not replacing them with some other "slightly less racist" policy.

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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

If only 25 hardhats would sotp being marked with a red cross, and McDonalds would allow its employees to speak Arabic, there would be no more terror

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'O TANNENBAUM, O TANNENBAUM ..' - Avnery
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Thursday, March 11 2004 @ 12:08 PM EST

"When Tannenbaum went to Dubai, and then found himself in Hizbullah-land in Lebanon, the security establishment was shaken to its very foundations .."

By URI AVNERY

“O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,
How faithful are your leaves!
You're green not only in summertime,
But also in winter when it snows,
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum…”
(Old German Christmas song. “Tannenbaum” is the fir tree.)

This is a well-established Israeli ritual: One takes a trivial matter, declares it to be the center of national life, decorates it and dances around it, all in order to escape from the real national problems that are so exasperating and frightening.

This time it really is a fir tree. A gentleman called Elhanan Tannenbaum. He was a prisoner of Hizbullah. In order to bring him back home, together with the bodies of three soldiers, Ariel Sharon released several hundred “terrorists”.

Since then, the whole country has been in uproar, day after day, week after week.

Why did Sharon make the deal? This week the terrible secret has come out: this fir tree is the former son-in-law of somebody who had some business with Sharon 30 years ago, when an American Jewish billionaire helped a poor army officer by the name of Ariel Sharon to acquire the biggest private farm in the country.

Did Sharon release hundreds of “terrorists” to help a former son-in-law of a former business associate? Is this a giant scandal? A most terrible case of corruption?

Even if it were so, I can answer only with two Hebrew words, which translate literally as “the delight of my grandmother”. Or, in American: “big deal!”

As usual, the media do not pose the right questions, because the right questions might annoy some important people. For example: the security chiefs.

This Tannenbaum is a colonel in the reserves. In this capacity he was party to one of the most secret military projects in Israel . According to leaked hints, this project is no less secret than our nuclear activities (see Mordecai Vanunu, below.)

Now it transpires that Tannenbaum was, in civilian life, a professional crook, compulsive gambler, with an irregular family life, steeped in debt and closely connected with Lebanese drug dealers. How did such a person become a party to the most top secret project?

Well… Nobody knew what he was doing. Nobody inquired. He did not mention it to the chief of internal security of the defense establishment, a certain Yehiel Horev. And if nobody tells Horev, how is he to know?

When Tannenbaum went to Dubai, and then found himself in Hizbullah-land in Lebanon, the security establishment was shaken to its very foundations. A person who carries with him such awesome secrets is in the hands of our enemies? What has he told them, and what is he going to tell?

Because of this, the security establishment was ready to pay any price to get him back as quickly as possible: 50 “terrorists”? 500 “terrorists”? 5000 “terrorists”? Doesn't matter. The main thing is that he be returned at once.

That is understandable. If Tannenbaum had told what he knows, he would have caused “irreparable damage” (as official sources emphasized) to national security. In such cases, it is essential to find out if he did spill the beans or not. Therefore he was bought back for a high price, and since then he is being investigated, investigated and investigated.

The former son-in-law of the former friend does not come into it. The connection is intriguing, but not important.

A more significant question is: How did a person like Tannenbaum become a colonel? How inefficient must a security apparatus be for such a fiasco to become possible? And how come that Horev, one of the best-paid civil servants in Israel , was not kicked out?

Furthermore: if hundreds of “terrorists” can be released for one living crook and three dead bodies, perhaps their imprisonment was not really necessary for the security of the state? Perhaps the continued stay in prison of 7000 more of them is pointless? And if so, why were they not released in the cause of peace, to strengthen the position of Arafat in 1993 or Abu-Mazen not so long ago?

Horev and Co. are angry with Tannenbaum because he has revealed their incompetence. They are also angry with Mordecai Vanunu, for the same reason.

Vanunu was a minor technician at the Dimona nuclear reactor, a site so secret that for a long time it was forbidden to mention its very existence. When it became impossible to deny its existence any longer, the government pretended that it was a ”textile factory”.

At this site, the most highly guarded in Israel , Vanunu freely took pictures. Then he went abroad, became a Buddhist, converted to Christianity (or the other way round) and passed his information and photos to a British paper. On the basis of this information, scientists decided that Israel has 200 nuclear bombs.

The disclosure was credible but unofficial. Thus it strengthened Israel 's deterrence, without the government being obliged to confirm it. This was so convenient for the government that, at the beginning, many people believed that Vanunu was really a Mossad agent.

But he was not. On the contrary, he represented a catastrophic failure of the security structure that was – and still is – headed by the above mentioned Horev. The reaction was drastic: Vanunu was kidnapped in Rome and brought to Israel in a box – just as Tannenbaum was kidnapped in Dubai and brought (apparently) in a box to Beirut.

Vanunu succeeded in conveying this to the media by writing it on the palm of his hand and waving on the way to court.

This infuriated Horev and Co. even more. For many years they kept Vanunu in prison in total isolation. Now that he has completed his whole sentence, they do not want to release him. And if the court does no allow them to keep him in prison, they want to prevent him from going abroad or speaking to journalists.

Why? The argument is that even now, 20 years later, he may be in possession of information that could endanger the state.

By the way, a similar argument is used by the American security agencies for refusing to release Jonathan Pollard, who spied for Israel and received a life sentence. They believe that Pollard knows the identity of an Israeli mole in the highest circles of the American administration, who told Pollard which documents to steal and transfer to Israel.

Tannenbaum, Vanunu, Pollard – all these are intriguing stories, useful for increasing the circulation and ratings of the media. And, more importantly, they distract attention from the real dangers that threaten us: the building of the monstrous wall in the occupied territories, Sharon's plan to annex more than half of the West Bank, the ongoing effort to destroy the Palestinian Authority, the daily bloody cycle of targeted killings – suicide bombings – assassinations, murder and revenge, and the destruction of all chances for peace.

Who wants to think about that? Who wants to deal with it? It is much more pleasant to sing and dance around the fir tree: “O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum…”

Avnery is an Israeli author and activist. He is the head of the Israeli peace movement, "Gush Shalom".

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*** Sig will be edited -> see rule #5 regarding political/religious content
Theodore Herzl, founder of the World Zionist Organization: "Spirit the penniless population across the frontier by denying it employment... Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly."

I know you dont like when new israeli-palestinian threads are opened so i've put it here

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/404939.html

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quote:

Originally posted by Flotser I know you dont like when new israeli-palestinian threads are opened so i've put it here http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/404939.html

Thats sickening

To exploit a child for delivery purposes. Poor kid could have killed himself.

I seriously hope those responisble blow themselves up when they prepare their next attack

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"This place isn't big enough for me to blow it up."
-MARCO V

quote:

Originally posted by Cyrus King I seriously hope those responisble blow themselves up when they prepare their next attack

And take a few Israelis down with them, right?

(kidding, kidding!)

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My party schedule:
2009-02-21 - DJ Attention @ I'm So Popular
2009-06-18 - DJ Annoying @ People Need To Know Where I'll Be
2012-11-32 - DJ Insufferable ɸ Or At Least the Stalkers I Complain About
2048-06-66 - Spastic & Whocares ¶ Although I'm Actually Flattered
9999-45-81 - Tweaker Gimp ☼ I Probably Won't Even Go To This But I Have To Make Sure I Fill Up All The Available Space Here

i think a yellow star instead of a red cross would have completed the irony perfectly

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