Rights group: Israel exploits and cheats foreign workers

[ProgressiveMuslim]

By Reuters
Tags: Israel News

About 30,000 migrant workers hired by farms in Israel pay thousands of dollars to middlemen for their jobs but earn less than the minimum wage and are cheated out of overtime, according to an Israeli rights group report.

The rights group Kav LaOved says the workers come mostly from Thailand but also Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Palestinian Territories.

Its report calls them "the most exploited segment of workers in Israel". The findings were due to be presented to the Israeli Knesset this week before parliament rules on a request for more employment permits from farmers and agri-businesses.
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"The farmers are fighting for more employment permits but most of them violate the workers' most basic rights," the report says. The vast majority of migrants work more hours than the law allows without being paid for overtime.

The group said its findings are based on "hundreds of complaints by agriculture workers and dozens of inspections by Kav LaOved volunteers at work sites around the country".

"The Thai workers come from rural areas after paying middlemen in Thailand and Israel brokerage fees running from $8,000-10,000," the report says.

"Most of them come to Israel and immediately begin working in remote and isolated locations, without knowing basic aspects of Israeli law."

read on...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1123985.html

[oberliner]

1. What, if anything, does this have to do with the I/P conflict?

This seems like a universal problem (exploiting migrant workers) - not at all specific to Israel, and certainly not relevant to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

[LeftishBrit]

4. True - but everything to do with Israel *or* Palestine ends up here

I've even seen things to do with neither country (e.g. US vs Iran) end up here on occasion.

Perhaps there should be a general Middle East forum.

[oberliner]

5. But it did not "end up" here, it was deliberately posted here

I am curious as to why. I would note that it was posted without comment.
I would like to be able to understand the motivation behind such a post.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

6. Workers from the occupied territories were involved.

And besides... every instance of anything relating to Israel is posted here... is it not?

[ConsAreLiars]

13. Your "curiousity"seems to have a rather "curious" slant, in case you, alone, had not noticed.

A few months ago a supremacist posted a newspaper report on some obscure medical research achievement at, I believe, the University of Chicago in which the only possible relevance was that one of the researchers was Israeli. Others with the same type of content have also been posted on occasion.

Supremacists here also frequently post articles implicitly trying to depict Palestinians as less than human. Such articles also had no content regarding the I/P conflict as such, other than promoting the view that Israelis or Jews (I don't know if jingoism or bigotry was most involved) were "better than" those being oppressed.

The fact that you never questioned their relevance to this forum was not surprising at all.

The fact that you now question the relevance of this post is not surprising at all. If your blinders allow it, take a good look in a mirror sometime, and either abandon that very transparent facade you operate behind and openly join the haters, or rip off the blinders and take an impartial look at what has been done to the indigenous people of that region.

[oberliner]

15. "Supremacists frequently post articles implicitly trying to depict Palestinians as less than human"

Can you provide any evidence to back up this absurb claim?

[ProgressiveMuslim]

18. Sort the OPs by author. Readers can draw their own conclusions about your goals.

[oberliner]

20. Or they could just ask me what my goals are

And I would clearly state that my goals are to support those who are in favor of peace and a two-state solution and condemn those who are against a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Additional goals include learning more about the conflict and exchanging opinions with those who have different perspectives and expressing disagreement with those who I do not agree with.

If you think I have made any posts that run counter to those goals, I think that would say more about what you bring to the table than anything else.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

22. Your posts suggest otherwise.

It's funny actually. I can read an OP headline, and know in an instant that you posted it.

Whatever dude.

Your questioning my posting the OP here was absurd in light of your own posting history.

[oberliner]

23. If you could identify any such post I would greatly appreciate it

Otherwise I really do not know what you are talking about.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

24. I shall certainly do so. You tend to share any news item, however small, that can possibly

cast Palestinians in a negative light.

All done in the name of your hope for peace, of course.

[ConsAreLiars]

31. The evidence is there for any to see. As for my comments regarding your bias, here's a screenshot

of a portion of your I/P OP's. I think that anyone can can see the slant, except maybe you. If you still don't see it, PM the more bloodthirsty kill-em-all posters here and ask them if they think you are with them or with the "evil ones" or subhumans or terrorists or Islamists or Hamas or the PA or Palestinians or whatever label they prefer to use to describe those they want to see starved to death or driven even further into exile and refugee camps.

Take a good look, and, if you can, think about what it reveals. Need more evidence? Do the same "sort by author" and count those which echo the "Israel/Israelis/Jews = Victims/Human/Humane" and those which suggest Palestine/Palestinians/Muslims = "Dangerous/Subhuman/Inhumane." Plus the two opposites. Fill out the 2X2 box and the do a chi-square analysis on the numbers. It might be an instructive exercise, and might even yield some insight, if you would try it,which I doubt. Anyway, here's a partial scan of your posts here:

[oberliner]

33. I would encourage you to undergo a similar journey of self-examination

Your perception of these article posts might be instructive for you to explore.

Maybe take the time to read some of them a little more closely.

For instance, have you looked at the post entitled: "Nightmare on J Street: Why can't Arab Americans work for peace too?" - do you have any idea what that piece is about?

[ConsAreLiars]

35. You challenged the relevance of the OP to the Israel/Palestine Forum.

It is, in fact, obviously about Israel. Yet you post an article about an Israeli getting getting stabbed in another country by someone you regard as one of "THEM!" I won't argue that you have a double standard, since I don't see any at all, only an obvious slant. Did you try he exercise I suggested? You really should. I double-dog dare you to do it using all your posts and categorizing them as suggested. I'll help you run the numbers using that statistical tool.

As for your question, you can answer it by taking another look at the screen capture, in which posts I've read since I built this computer are purple and posts which haven't been read since that time are blue.

[shaayecanaan]

14. About as much as a story about "honour killings" in Palestine (nt)

[oberliner]

16. Palestinians join UN agencies in denouncing honour killings and gender abuse

Eight United Nations agencies have co-sponsored the first Palestinian ‘festival’ to combat violence against women, driving home the message that so-called “honour killings” have nothing to do with honour and seeking to break the conspiracy of silence surrounding domestic abuse.

“It is time for action, not words,” UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Programme Manager in the occupied Palestinian territory Alia El Yassir told the festival in Ramallah on the West Bank. “UN agencies are working as one on this issue and supporting civil societies in their efforts to end violence against women.”

The main message of the festival was threefold:

* Killing a woman has nothing to do with honour. It is a violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms.

It is time for action, not words

* Break the conspiracy of silence surrounding domestic violence. Silence protects the perpetrators, and is the greatest obstacle encountered by women and girls in protecting themselves and their children.
* Youth, especially young men, can play a positive and driving role. Male and female Palestinian youth have the right, duty and responsibility to play a key role in building a Palestinian society free of domestic violence against women and girls.

http://www.nohonor.org/?cat=11

[ProgressiveMuslim]

19. Check the mirror. Your disingenuous is showing. nt

[IndianaGreen]

30. It debunks the myth of Israeli exceptionalism

Israel is just another country, like any other, and it should be treated in the same manner.

[hughee99]

2. Just like in the US. n/t

[LeftishBrit]

3. And the UK, and Europe.

[Violet_Crumble]

10. I'm sure foreign workers are exploited here too,...

..but that's no excuse for it happening in Israel and I get the feeling from reading some posts in this thread that it's felt that this forum is the wrong place to discuss things that happen in Israel...

[ProgressiveMuslim]

7. I'd like to read more about this practice in the US. Do you have any links?

[oberliner]

8. Mexican Migrant Workers: Dying to Work

For hundreds of years, Mexican immigrants have been coming to the United States in order to find work. Agriculture has been a main venue for these workers. They come Stateside when the crops come in, and often move from state to state as each plant is ready to harvest. For this reason they are called migrant workers. "Migrant farm workers travel north during the growing season, following the crops, or travel back and forth from home bases in Florida, Texas, California, and Mexico." (1)

Not only do migrant workers face innumerable hardships such as low wages, unacceptable housing, and lack of health care, yet to make matters worse, Mexican farm laborers are faced with the complete lack of regard of their lives as human beings. Day after day, the laborers are forced to work in conditions that put their lives in peril. Farm workers spend hour after hour in immediate contact with crops that have been profusely sprayed with pesticides. Many Americans believe that the United States is working to make our environment more "health-friendly" by using less toxic pesticides, however, pesticides are still used to attack organisms, such as insects and bacteria, yet, when workers are in close proximity with these pesticides, they begin to demonstrate dangerous effects in the form of illness. In fact, "Despite tougher regulations, the U.S. is no exception when it comes to endangering workers' lives with pesticide use. Over one billion pounds of pesticide active ingredients are used in the U.S. each year, 80% of which are used in agriculture."(2) Although there is a push to move to more organic farming techniques, there are still many laborers who work on farms that use pesticides. In reality, "80% of the indigenous people that live in this country work in the fields where pesticides are sprayed."(2)

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1701

[azurnoir]

11. Are the exploited workers here

documented or undocumented immigrants? that seems to be the difference here

[xc8mip]

28. mostly undocumented

they don't rapport anything to police for fear of deportation

[azurnoir]

32. It was a "rhetorical" question actually

agri-business started hiring undocumented workers to skirt laws protecting migrant workers who are US citizens.

[xc8mip]

34. honestly speaking it's outcome of brain dead visa system

South Americans illegally traveling to work in US are mostly uneducated and unskilled .Farmers since dawn of men need labor at certain times , like seeding and harvest or entire crop will go to waste
In Israel situation is similar to other regions of migrations. Maybe with one exception - human trafficking for prostitution .In USA victims are protected by law and granted asylum. Something Israeli officials should change ASAP because it's a moral thing to do

[Mosby]

9. There is a thread posted today in LBN

about this subject:

ABC News Investigation: The Blueberry Children

Children as Young as 5 and 6 Working in the Fields of Large Blueberry Grower; Walmart Severs Ties, Feds Levy Fines

Oct. 30, 2009—

Walmart has severed ties with one of the country's major blueberry growers after an ABC News investigation found children, including one as young as five-years-old, working in its fields.

The children were discovered at the Adkin Blue Ribbon Packing Company, in South Haven, Michigan, this summer by graduate school students working with ABC News as fellows with the Carnegie Corporation.

The full report on the investigation airs tonight on Nightline.

A five-year-old girl, named Suli, was seen lugging two heavy buckets of blueberries picked by her parents and brothers, aged seven and eight.

An 11-year-old boy in the Adkin fields told the Carnegie fellows he had been picking blueberries since the age of eight.

The owner of the company, Randy Adkin, was once featured on a Walmart billboard advertising his "locally produced and locally sold" blueberries.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/young-children-working-blueberry-fields-walmart-severs-ties/story?id=8951044

[azurnoir]

12. the difference is that these farmers are not

obtaining work permits from our government for this practice and in fact are under investigation for breaking the law

[xc8mip]

29. immigration raid at Agriprocessors

http://iowaindependent.com/12841/court-denies-rubashkin-agriprocessors-request-for-new-venue


"The May 2008 immigration raid at Agriprocessors resulted in the detention of 389 plant workers, or nearly a third of the plant’s workforce"

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rubashkin+agriprocessors&aq=2&oq=rubashkin&aqi=g10


Big deal with Agriprocessors was about factory management providing illegal workers with forged documents , typical undocumented south American migrants cross the border illegally and are unable to change immigration status ever.That means no possibility of legal employment .I'll tell you that lot of vultures will abuse these people but generally speaking they have standard of life unheard in their native countries .They get fat due to abundance of cheap food very quickly ,send money home and /I should not say this/ are almost twice as productive at work than "legal" Americans despite wages ranging 6-10$/hour.

[Violet_Crumble]

17. Born in Israel but unwanted by the Jewish state

TEL AVIV — Eight-year-old Stephanie is not afraid of deportation. Her teacher told her not to be. But like hundreds of Israeli-born children of illegal foreign workers, she faces the prospect of being expelled from the only home she's ever known.

Some 1,200 Asian and African children born in Israel and their parents currently face deportation following a crackdown on foreign workers who have overstayed their visas and continue working in the Jewish state.

The fate of the children has struck a deep chord in Israel, which has absorbed millions of Jewish immigrants since its founding in 1948.

The children are, for all intents and purposes, Israeli -- they speak fluent Hebrew, know all the Jewish holidays by heart and celebrate them at school and consider Israel their home.

But while many Israelis support granting the children and their parents residency, others insist that absorbing them would create a dangerous precedent that would undermine the state's Jewish character.

For Stephanie the prospect of being kicked out of the only country she has lived in is unthinkable. But both her parents work illegally in Tel Aviv, 10 years after arriving from the Philippines with work visas.

"I don't want to leave this country, this is my country and I love it," she said in fluent Hebrew outside the Hayarden elementary school in southern Tel Aviv, where nearly half of the students are children of foreign workers.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gR8Nwabeg2cifZIMWT6TPbx3xdnw?index=1&ned=au

[Mosby]

21. Lahmanovitz has it backwards

IMO deporting these kids and their parents would damage the character of the Jewish state.

[Violet_Crumble]

25. Agreed. It damages the character of any state that does it..

That's one thing RW govts don't seem to grasp. Our former RW govt was so obsessed with a supposed threat posed by refugees arriving by boat that they got so bad that they put an Australian citizen in a detention centre for a few years and then deported her and immigration officials were known to go into schools and drag out children of asylum seekers in front of their classmates. imo, that sort of thing did a hell of a lot of damage not only to the character, but the reputation of my country. I really hope foreign workers with children who were born in Israel are given a fair go and do end up staying...

[Scurrilous]

26. Yishai: Foreigners will bring AIDS, drugs

Interior minister makes unusually harsh comments to explain his desire to expel illegal aliens

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3798143,00.html

<snip>

"The government should force illegal aliens out of the country, as an influx of foreigners will bring drugs and disease into Israel, Interior Minister Eli Yishai told Channel 2 Saturday evening.

"We will have, based on what the internal security minister said in the last discussion, hundreds of thousands of foreign workers coming in here with disease like hepatitis, tuberculosis, AIDS, drugs…," he said.

"Would any one of Israel's citizens agree to have a million or two and a half million Sudanese and refugees from Eritrea come in here?" he said."'Doesn’t it threaten the Zionist enterprise of the State of Israel?"

Addressing the issue of expelling the children of illegal aliens, Yishai slammed their parents for "turning their children into a human shield."

[LeftishBrit]

27. Maybe the Brits should introduce him to our lovely Nick Griffin

Seems like they'd have things in common.

[Scurrilous]

36. Israel proposes work camps for illegal migrants

<snip>

"The government is considering establishing work camps in the south of the country, where illegal migrant workers will receive shelter, food and medical care, Army Radio reported Wednesday. In exchange, illegal migrants would perform manual labor outside the camps, but would not earn a salary.

They would stay at the camp until their asylum claims are decided, which could take months or years.

The proposal, part of the effort to address the problems posed by illegal migrants, would place asylum seekers at jobs in communities in the Negev and Arava. Their salaries would go to the state, in order to fund the camps."

<snip>

"I fear how far we have fallen," said MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) in reaction to the work camp proposal, adding that he thinks the plan would encourage many more asylum seekers to try to enter Israel.

"The plan induce refugees to come to Israel. A bed is an incentive compared to where they come from. Israel has the right to close its borders, but when someone comes here, you cannot fight with him. This shows that we haven't learned a thing, as people living in a country established by refugees for refugees," Khenin added."

<snip>

"Amnesty International also criticized the proposal yesterday. The group's Israel director, Itay Epstein, said: "The crazy idea of housing refugees in work camps in the south by force is contrary to international law and to every international treaty to which Israel is a party."

He added, "Israel is obligated to grant refugees and asylum seekers who come knocking on its door a safe haven (as well as certain rights), which include the right to live in dignity and to work and earn a living. They certainly should not be employed by force, as we profit from the distress of survivors of genocide and persecution."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126057.html

[ConsAreLiars]

37. Slave labor. Now there's another good idea taken from both old enemies and more recent

allies in SA. Those who keep singing the Israel uber alles song might think about what tendency and trend they are encouraging.

But, they will say, Amnesty International is just an organization of Jew-haters like HRW and UNHCR and CodePink and the General Assembly of the UN and all the others, so this article is false, or what is described is perfectly fine and legal within some law or other, or it is a noble venture showing that Israel is the bestest and most holy of all nations.

That kind of mindset will destroy Israel's chance for peace and even survival.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

38. Wow. Just wow. Ansar IV?