worker rights

• August 26, 2009

  Jews, the Labor Movement, and the Underlying Poison of Nationalist Militancy

  Jews were pioneers of Labor reform in the United States, most famously for women workers. It is this legacy in particular that still leaves most of the grandchildren and great grandchildren of these folks voting Democrat despite their extraordinary financial success, much to the chagrin of successive Republican presidents.

  There are divisions emerging between Jews on these matter, of late, however. Not surprisingly, the leading militants siding with Israel’s most violent policies are also the most opposed to labor rights, such as Sheldon Adelson. Adelson is one of the most extreme influences on American Jewish establishment politics today. This comes as no surprise to me. Moral bankruptcy in Israel’s treatment of Palestinians goes hand in hand with selfishness in labor relations. This is why the poison of the Occupation must go, so that, in addition to doing the right thing, Jews can recapture the proud political traditions of their ancestors …

• July 26, 2009

  Privately Run Checkpoint Stops Palestinians with ‘Too Much Food’

  This is just ridiculous. One more humiliation for Palestinians, one more embarrassment for Jewish identity, which, by the way, justifies Jewish attachment to the land of Israel through a religion that completely outlaws withholding food or wages from workers. It is even forbidden to withhold food from working animals. It is time for Israel to live up to the past of Jewish ethics. I invite anyone reading this to join Mahsom Watch for just two weeks to find out that this is not about security or saving lives. Israel and its supporters must change, and it is hearing that now from the whole world, including the American Congress. This is slow but inevitable, so why prolong the humiliation of all of this?

  

  Privately run checkpoint stops Palestinians with ‘too much food’
  By Amira Hass

  A West Bank checkpoint managed by a private security company is not allowing Palestinians to

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• September 14, 2008

  KOSHER RED MEAT GETS A BLACK EYE: RELIGIOUS CONFLICT’S CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS

  A huge conflict has emerged inside the American Jewish community on the status of their kosher red meat. The first criminal indictments have emerged of the country’s largest kosher meat business, which involve the hire of undocumented immigrants who are minors. Accusations of abuses of both animals and people are widespread.

  

  Now accusations of worker abuse are emerging at the next largest producer of kosher red meat.

  With news emerging from the some of the most prestigious research bodies regarding the role of meat eating in 1/5th of the world’s global warming emissions (more than transportation emissions!), and all of the accompanying ramifications for plant, animal, and human life on earth, it raises even deeper questions about meat eating and religious values. It forces the question on the indirect relationship between eating a simple steak and the abuse of the planet and other people. If eating kosher meat is …