Study: Israeli employers prefer not to hire Arabs

[ProgressiveMuslim]

By Dana Weiler-Polak, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Arab workers, Israel news

Israeli employers prefer not to hire Arabs, Ethiopians and Haredis - even those holding at least an undergraduate degree, according to a study published on Monday.

More than 83 percent of employers are repelled by the idea of hiring an Arab without a university degree, found the study conducted by the Kiryat Ono Academy.

Some 58 percent of managers prefer not to hire Haredic academics, and 53 percent of them would rather not hire Ethiopians, the report said.
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The report elaborated that even if someone from the minority group actually gets hired, their chances of receiving a promotion are slim, despite qualifications and success rates.

Some 86 percent of the research participants said that they would rather not promote Haredic employees, 79 percent said that about Arabs, and 70 percent of them would rather not promote an Ethiopian worker.

Media and publicity are the most discriminating fields of work, according to the study, while legal offices and accountancy firms show an increasing tendency over the past few years to incorporate workers from minority ethnic groups.

Arabs and Ethiopians are hardly ever hired for positions in the stock exchange, the report claims, while Haredic employees that are accepted into the filed are discriminated against.

read on...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1126900.html

[aranthus]

1. They needed a study to figure that out?

The Jews and Arabs have been at war for over 60 years. Of course they prefer to not hire Arabs. I have no doubt that Arabs prefer to not hire Jews. In the US Koreans prefer to hire Koreans. Japanese prefer to hire Japanese. That's pretty much true of any ethnic group.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. The interesting things is that 2 of the three groups are Jewish...

and that the Haredi, the equivalent of fundies for Judiasm, seem to get the worst of it

[Violet_Crumble]

4. So? That surely doesn't justify those attitides...n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs are NOT at war...

What you said makes it sound like you've got no problems with bigoted views being expressed. What you said was wrong, anyway. It's about a reluctance to hire minority ethnic groups, not a reluctance to only hire Israelis...

[aranthus]

10. I was not clear.

I don't think that it's a good thing. I think that it's an obvious thing, that people shouldn't have needed a study to tell them. That was why I titled the post, "They needed a study to figure that out?" As for the fact that Israeli Jews and Arabs are not at war, that is certainly true. Neither were Americans of Anglo descent and Americans of German descent (WWI), or Anglo-Americans and Japanese Americans (WWII). Yet those groups suffered discrimination in the US. Have you ever heard of Manzanar? As for the reluctance to hire minorities, what I was pointing out, is that this is also an obvious human trait. Chinese hire Chinese, etc. There's bigotry in every country, especially countries that are involved in protracted wars. I'm not justifying it. I was questioning the need for a study that proves the obvious. Now, if they ever have a study that shows the opposite of this one, that would be an interesting study.

[Violet_Crumble]

17. I think studies like this are necessary....

They have similar reports and studies coming out here and I do think they're necessary, despite the results sometimes being a no-brainer...

[LeftishBrit]

20. Also the findings of *which* occupations have more prejudice are important and not that obvious

[Violet_Crumble]

22. It's probably due to still being half-asleep, but I don't get it...

Studies on which occupations have more prejudice? I'm not sure what you mean by prejudice when it comes to occupation. Have you got an example of the sort of study yr talking about so that I'll understand what sort of studies yr talking about?

[LeftishBrit]

26. I meant that there appears to be more racial discrimination (according to this study) in the media

and public relations than (e.g.) in accountancy.

(I was meaning 'occupations' as in 'jobs/professions' rather than as in 'occupying a country or territory'- just occurred to me that in the I/P context the word could be ambiguous.)

[Violet_Crumble]

28. Thanks, that makes sense now. It was the word occupation that got me n/t

[aranthus]

23. That depends on the study and how it is used. n/t

[pelsar]

5. it appears they left out haredi women...

which in fact are known to be the best workers...they come on time, dont waste time with coffee or gossip, quietly do their work and then go home for their 10+ kids. Their husband spends all day with his buddies in the yeshiva "studying" so they're pretty serious about keeping their job

BUT...you have to hire them after their 10th kid.......

[azurnoir]

9. Your scenario of the life of a Haredi women

sounds like good reason to "Reform" right there

[Ken Burch]

30. And there's no cultural stereotyping in your description of Haredi family life whatsoever

:eyes:

[pelsar]

36. oohhh you dont like general descriptions of societies?

i guess the professions of sociology, anthropology, cultural descriptions etc you find all to be "stereotyping?....or is it only if it involves israel

would you feel better if i first described the differences between the different haradi sects, clothing, neighborhoods and subcultural norms with the way they eat, work, dress and pray?

and after that i can dive into the subculture of their children and their work/play ethic?....

and then after that i can explain how the different parts of israel react differently to the haredi be it Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa etc

or is that not enough detail for you to avoid "cultural stereotyping'.......

[oberliner]

6. Well at least the survey proves that there is no racism involved

The Haredim fare as bad or worse than anyone!

[Violet_Crumble]

7. Is there really a need to try to put positive spin on bigotry?

I doubt very much that'd be yr reaction if it were a case of bigotry against Jews by Arabs, which btw isn't racism either...

[azurnoir]

8. Pennsylvania employers prefer not to hire Blacks but

they prefer not to hire the Amish even more, nope no bigotry there either?

really Sir I would expect better from you

[oberliner]

11. The survey indicates that the issue is not racism but rather something different

How do you account for the numbers with respect to the Haredim?

Anti-semitism maybe?

[pelsar]

12. it could be protection of the work place...

Israel has a whole host of "workers rights rules and laws" that give the workers the ability to close down a business if they so chose...the down side of that is that many are careful who they hire...to avoid such situations.

For instance...a small office of 5-10 people who has an haridi employe can demand that the kitchen be made kosher...and that definition can have a zillion different variations on it...meaning if the haridi wants to cause trouble, all they have to do is call in the "local rabbi.".....

and the list goes on..i know companies that wont hire women between the ages of 20-40....because to fire a women when she is pregnant is almost impossible....including when she returns to work..and she can demand all kinds of conditions...again enough to close down a business if she so chooses.

for the arabs its probably just discrimination on the basis of ethnicity...

[oberliner]

15. How do the hiring laws compare with those in the US?

Seems we've got a lot more protections here in the United States against that sort of thing.

[pelsar]

21. israel as i understand is far more "progressive"....

but i can't say for sure.....its a tricky balance between protecting the worker vs keeping the small business from going under for some employee grievance........a workers complaint here is pretty much taken as truth by the courts, as i 've been told.

of course taken too far and the workers get hurt..

[azurnoir]

13. Sir you are hairsplitting here

a rose is a rose and you will note I did not say racism in my comment and will add I said bigotry mainly to avoid yet another rehash of the "is it breathe mint or is it a gum" definition of Judaism

[oberliner]

14. My post was about racism

I did not use the term bigotry.

[Violet_Crumble]

16. No-one else but you is talking about racism...

The OP and all other posters are talking about bigotry and yr the one going on about racism. Sorry, but whatever argument you think yr making, it's coming across as quite silly. Maybe if you exerted a fraction of the energy you've spent on this voicing opposition (if yr actually opposed) to the bigotry discovered by this study, it wouldn't look so strange...

[azurnoir]

24. The post seemed an attempt to whitewash an ugly situation n/t

[oberliner]

25. Trying to get at the source(s) of the discrimination

Would love to hear your thoughts.

[azurnoir]

27. Just thecases of Israeli discrimination?

I would say that all discrimination has somewhat the same sources which can be boiled down to the discriminating or discriminator perceiving some sort of benefit to themselves or their group as a result of the discrimination that benefit can take more forms than just the material it can be emotional or even intellectual, this is not to say it is right or even that the benefits are real as I said it is perception

[Violet_Crumble]

29. It's par for the course n/t

[azurnoir]

34. so I see n/t

[LeftishBrit]

19. With the Haredim, probably cultural prejudice.

And let us be very, very honest: it is a prejudice that most people on this board would probably share to some extent. Ultra-religious lifestyles appear alien and a bit suspect to most people of the sorts who post on DU. This does not justify the discrimination in the least. Acknowledging that a prejudice exists is often the first step to combatting it.

With Arabs, probably ethnic bigotry mixed with the religious sort, and with a nationalistic feeling of enmity. With Ethiopians, perhaps bigotry of a sort more akin to racism as the term is most commonly defined.

In all cases, bigotry is involved, whether one chooses to call it 'racism' or not.

[Ken Burch]

31. As to prejudice about the Haredim,check out pelsar's post #5 above

He didn't come right out and call Haredi fathers "shiftless", but he didn't miss it by much.

[LeftishBrit]

32. I have Haredi relatives...

and Pelsar's description of the lifestyle, if harshly expressed, is pretty accurate. Haredi fathers are not shiftless; but they do devote themselves predominantly to the spiritual life, while their wives deal more with life's practicalities. And yes, having a large family is part of the approved lifestyle.

If one is a person who places a strong value on religion and spirituality and following religious traditions, one will probably sympathize with the lifestyle. If one is a secular feminist, one will probably feel at least slight prejudice, just as one will probably feel some discomfort over the views and lifestyle of a submissive Fundamentalist Christian wife in a Bible Belt area of the USA, or over a very traditional Muslim woman being expected to wear a burqa even if one supports her right to wear it, or ... etcetera for all 'fundamentalist' lifestyles. Most secular people are not prejudiced against religion as such, but we do often experience some prejudice against the very tradition-oriented lifestyles associated with some religious groups, especially when these appear to discriminate against women. If we are to prevent discrimination against people with very different views and lifestyles, then it is better to acknowledge that the prejudices exist, and that we all have some of them to some degree, rather than to sweep them under the carpet.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

33. so, in other words...

they're not the best workers? LOL!

[pelsar]

35. quite the imagination....

i 've come to the conclusion from your posts...that you really dont like us.....

your consistent in your imaginative remarks....always the same....derogatory, demonizing.......

[Ken Burch]

37. You wrote about the Haredi in exactly the same way that "Redneck" Americans write about immigrants

or anybody with a different color skin.

I don't hate "Israelis". I hate hawkishness and the defense of militarist rigidity. And I hate the repeated implication that I "hate" a group of people unless I defend them in making the worst possible response to a situation. There's a difference between that and "not liking" Israelis.

What was done here was NEVER the only choice. Stop chanting "ein breira" to yourself in the mirror every morning.

[LeftishBrit]

18. Depressing though not that surprising

Are the employers breaking the law here, by the way? In Britain they would be; not that the equivalent doesn't often happen!

As in another thread, I would like to mention the New Israel Fund, which campaigns against all forms of discrimination.