Jerusalem taxi drivers against new Arab boss

[Scurrilous]

Eighteen drivers decide to leave Gilo station after learning of identity of new owner: A businessman from east Jerusalem. 'We have been stabbed in the back. How are we expected to work with him?' one of them says

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3580639,00.html

<snip>

"Eighteen of 23 drivers in a Jerusalem taxi station have decided to resign after learning that their station is about to be sold to an Arab businessman from east Jerusalem.

Gilo Taxis is one of the capital's oldest cab stations. Its drivers have been serving the city's residents for nearly 25 years. The station's owner, Avi Gabay, recently experienced some financial difficulties and decided to sell the station to an Arab businessman from the neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.

When the drivers learned of the impending agreement, uproar broke out in the station. The drivers, most of them supporters of right-wing parties, found it difficult to accept the fact that an Israeli Arab would run the station and give them orders. Eighteen of them even decided to establish their own station.

Eli Katsav, who has been working in the station since 1982, is one of Gilo Taxis' most veteran drivers. He says the drivers may decide to buy the station together.

"This sale is unacceptable to us," he adds. "We live in an extreme neighborhood. Everyone here is affiliated with the Right and we're all devoted Beitar Jerusalem (football team) fans. Our current decision is not to stay in the station."

[Tempest]

1. They can be easily replaced

It'll be interesting if he's boycotted.

[LeftishBrit]

2. If they're all right-wing racists, then probably the new owner is better off without them.

Do they also refuse Arab passengers, I wonder?

[Sezu]

3. Being "affiliated with the Right ," does not automatically

make them racists.

[LeftishBrit]

4. No.

But refusing to work for and 'take orders' from an Arab does.

[Sezu]

5. On the surface perhaps but given the territory and latest

history involved, I'd probably chalk it up more to "working for the enemy," rather than racism at first blush.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. It's most definately racism....

It doesn't matter what the justification is for the racism, the fact remains that it's still racism...

[Sezu]

8. They happen to be the SAME race. This is a political

statement at best.

[Shaktimaan]

12. "Racism" as it is being used here...

is really just a synonym for "bigotry", "discriminatory" or "xenophobic". Regardless of whether the cab drivers' fear and hatred stems from actual issues as opposed to senseless prejudice, the sentiment is the same. One of the cabbies himself was quoted as saying that he and his co-workers were all from "an extreme neighborhood" and were all "Beitar fans" while "the new owner comes from the village of the terrorists who carried out the three recent attacks in Jerusalem." (Which means he must also be a terrorist of course.)

In other words, the problem is not that the owner has objectionable politics himself but is that he is an Arab, and these guys hate Arabs. Even Israeli ones.

The issue is NOT a political one at its heart, it is bigotry and ethnocentrism. Yes, discrimination in Israel is driven by the conflict, I understand that. There are often reasons for bigotry, some might even be considered understandable. But that does not mean that their bigotry should be considered acceptable by a modern, progressive society such as Israel's.

These guys are asshole chauvinist bigots. A cabbie who won't pick up an Arab fare in Israel is no better in my book than one who won't pick up a black fare in New York. There is absolutely no difference except in New York City, it's illegal.

[azurnoir]

13. Thank you and well said

the only thing I can add is that both Jews and Arabs as peoples contain so many races within each that one can not say that either are of the same race themselves much less each other.

[Shaktimaan]

15. NP. And while I agree with the point you made just now,

I feel the fact that both Jewish and Arab Israelis consist of so many different races, even holding some in common, supports Sezu's point that this is not technically racism. Not that it matters as the cabbies are exhibiting all of the ugly traits of racists anyway. (Though I wonder if they'd stop for an Ethiopian Jew.)

[ProgressiveMuslim]

14. Well said, Shakti. nt

[LeftishBrit]

18. Agree

And I would also add that Beitar fans are rather noted for football hooliganism often linked with racism and other far-right attitudes (e.g. a notorious incident where a group of them cheered for Yigal Amir). For any other Brits on the board - "Beitar" seems to be the Hebrew translation of "Millwall"! Of course, not all or even most Beitar fans are racist football hooligans, just as not all Millwall fans are (that would be just another form of stereotyping); but the fact that they brought it up as relevant gives me further suspicion of their motives.

[Violet_Crumble]

20. It's also shorthand for *racial discrimination*

I suspect Sezu is falling back on the grade-school way of defining racism as being simply about skin colour, while the legal definition of racial discrimination (Australia, Britain, and I'm guessing quite a few other countries use this legal definition) is discrimination based on colour, race, religion, nationality, or ethnicity. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter whether these guys are called racists, bigots, or asshole chauvinist bigots (my fave), because their attitudes and behaviour is ugly and unacceptable no matter what it's called....

btw, Shakti. Just joining in the chorus here. I think I might have been watching too much of the diving in Beijing coz I'm giving yr post a score of 9.5, and you deserve a medal for it :)

[Shaktimaan]

7. Why would an Israeli Arab be considered "the enemy?" np

[Sezu]

9. An Arab or this specific Arab who is apparently a well

known person? Like I say, what do we really know yet that we can automatically assume it is that reason?

[LeftishBrit]

10. Why would they mention that they are affiliated with the Right, as though it's relevant...

if they really don't want to work for him because he underpays his workers or something like that?

Of course, the article could be misleading. It happens. But if it's accurate, then it's a bit hard to see their reaction as other than racist.

[Sezu]

11. Good points but since I know no other detailsfrom the article

than the businessman in question is Arab I feel inclined to stay my tongue on accusations. Now let's say this was a bunch of Democrats refusing to work for Cheney; would that be racist? Not likely. Perhaps this particular businessman is politically too much for these workers. And to be honest, the article gives little info about these workers other than they are affiliated with the right so I'm inclined to still say it's likely a political statement than racism.

edited to add

after reading some of the comments, I can see another rationale as well; fear. Fear of Arab fares in a place where Arabs have been killing Jews and fear of labelling by their community. While its easy to say fear is baseless, I'm not sure it is in that neighborhood. In my neighborhood it would be comical but here no one is killing Jews. I use to drive cab in my university days and would refuse certain well known dangerous spots....it wasn't racism, it was safety.

[Shaktimaan]

16. This argument bothers me.

That racism/bigotry becomes something else if there's a logical reason for it, or if it's driven by something other than hate. It kind of reminds me of when people post really hateful/untrue anti-Israel propaganda and then try to insist that there's nothing anti-semitic about it because they don't hate Jews. (The people they hate just tend to be Jewish. lol.) Or when someone who makes an offensive comment about {enter ethnicity} is unable to see it as racism because it wasn't voiced out of hatred for them.

The Israeli cabbies thing is not the same as your analogy. You avoided certain areas. But would you avoid certain people based on their skin color? I know in New York most cab robbers are minorities. Almost all of them in fact. (A relative of mine who drove a cab was actually killed by robbers he had picked up.) So maybe you don't hate minorities but as a cabbie you avoid picking them up because of the greater chance that you'll get robbed or hurt by them. (This is a hypothetical you, now.) So, is this act racist?

Yes. No question about it. Even though your fear is legitimate and you're acting solely out of self-preservation and not hatred, it is racist to avoid minority fares or view them as more likely to mug you.

It is easy to say "racism is bad" and condemn racism every time we see it, but the reality of race's impact on society is much more complicated than a slogan can cover. I'm not even sure that discriminating based on race is always bad. After all, it's given us affirmative action, hasn't it?

[Sezu]

17. Sorry, survival trumps poltical correctness. Call it racism

if you must but realize you are on pretty shakey ground. Is it skin colour that is at issue in this event or is it political? My take is political since skin color is pretty much moot between ethnic semites I would think. There may be bigotry at work given that but racism is too strong an accusation once you mention skin color in these regards.

[Shaktimaan]

19. don't be sorry. I agree with you.

But these cabbies weren't concerned about their survival, or at least, that's not the concern they voiced. Their message came through loud and clear. "We can't have an Arab as our boss because we hate them. They are the enemy."

Is it skin color or politics? Neither IMO, it's ethnicity. Sure, since this conflict is split down ethnic lines and as the conflict is primarily seen as political there is a political facet to it. But why did the conflict start anyway? Why did it split down ethnic lines to begin with? Because of political differences? No. Because of ethnic differences and our inability to overcome them. (Though that's admittedly a tall order.)

So, I never said that these cabbies were racist. I think they are ethno-centrist bigots, or ethnic chauvinists, or xenophoboids or whatever... basically racialists who are hung up on ethnicity instead of race. But identical in every other respect.

These cabbies aren't hung up on the man's political views, they have no idea where he stands on the I/P situation. If he were a Palestinian, then OK. But he's just a normal Israeli businessman. They only have one problem with him... his ethnicity. And because he's an Arab they automatically refuse to work for him. "Oh, he's from the same village as these terrorists... working for an Arab will be a big mess... it's an impossible situation... etc." Bullshit reasons. I bet that their fragile egos just couldn't handle taking orders from an Arab boss.

Political disagreements didn't lead to this ethnic strife. IMHO ethnocentrism (on both sides) caused the conflict which then led to the political problems. This is just run of the mill fallout.

[Sezu]

22. As always you make excellent points and ones that

I can agree with. But as per my lifelong position, I support workers, even those who are xenophobic. The culture of a work environment almost always bears more weight on workers than other loftier concerns. Yes it's a shame, but it's also a reality. You and I can discuss this rationally but on that frontline, well, we are simply outsiders. Work cultures are, as you probably know, highly resistant to change in general.

So, my evolving take on this is that there are probably a lot of factors at work here and a simple explanation is probably not feasible.

[LeftishBrit]

23. The problem is - what about workers who are *victims* of xenophobia?

In this case, the subject of the xenophobia is the boss, who can no doubt find other people to replace those who choose not to work for him. But what happens if a group of Israeli workers start campaigning against the employment of Arab workers in their workplace, or act in a racist fashion toward existing Arab workers? What if white workers in an American or British business put pressure on the management not to employ black workers, or created a hostile environment for existing black workers? This sort of thing does happen, and happened to a greater extent before there were anti-discrimination laws.

[Sezu]

24. I think you are painting a slippery slope which does not

need to be painted considering this particular situation. After all, the new boss is probably better off without these guys...win win situation.

[Violet_Crumble]

21. Why aren't you willing to take these drivers at their own word?

What is it that you think you don't know yet? There's no great, deep mystery there. Read the article. They weren't exactly shy about what their reasons are:

'"An Arab won't be my owner," he says. "The surprising thing is that the previous owner, who wouldn’t even accept a receipt from an Arab passenger and hardly ever agreed to drive Arab passengers, has suddenly changed completely and sold to an Arab. How are we expected to work with him? He will be our owner?"