Zion Truth
While fanatic Israelophobes in the West rant and rave about alleged Israeli "apartheid," the Palestinian Authority --Israel's nemesis to be sure-- tells us --only by implication, of course-- that the "apartheid" charge against Israel is a lie, even in the Judea-Samaria. This is important because Jimmy Carter, one of Israel's professional defamers, fell back when he was challenged on calling Israel an apartheid state, in the title of his book [ghost-written no doubt], Palestine, Peace not Apartheid. Carter fell back, admitting that Israel within the old armistice lines [the Green Line] was not an apartheid society but claiming that he only meant "the West Bank" [Judea-Samaria], allegedly occupied by Israel.
We are not now going to go into the true international law applied to Judea-Samaria. Our subject is how the PA refuted the apartheid lie that is meant to support its demands.
How did the Palestinian Authority refute Carter's lie? The PA recently warned Arabs in the PA zones not to shop in Israeli-owned supermarkets in Judea-Samaria. They should boycott those supermarkets, the PA economy minister demanded. He added that the PA knew just who was shopping in those supermarkets, which entails a warning of PA retribution for those who continue to shop in them. That means that Arabs living in the zones were shopping in Israeli-owned supermarkets in Judea-Samaria. The owner of the supermarkets in question, Rami Levy, was not excluding Arab customers, nor did he refuse to hire Arab employees. Many of the employees were and are Arabs. Arab customers were mingling with Jewish customers in these stores. Where is the apartheid?
PA warns Palestinian shoppers
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
07/05/2010
Rami Levy shoppers, we know who you are, says economy minister.
Palestinian Authority Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh warned Palestinians on Thursday against shopping at Rami Levy supermarkets in the West Bank.
Thousands of Palestinians converge every day on the Rami Levy supermarkets at Sha’ar Binyamin and Mishor Adumim, the only two branches in the West Bank. The two stores also employ dozens of Palestinians.
This was the first threat of its kind issued by the PA against Palestinians who visited the Israeli supermarkets. . . .
Abu Libdeh said in an interview with the local Al-Watan TV station that the PA knew the names of individuals and families who shop in the Rami Levy stores.
He condemned the phenomenon of Palestinians buying goods at the Israeli supermarkets in the West Bank as a “big disgrace.”
Abu Libdeh said the PA was serious in implementing the decision to boycott settlement-made goods. Nevertheless, he denied that the boycott was politically motivated or had anything to do with the resumption of indirect negotiations between the PA and Israel.
The boycott was intended to “cleanse” the Palestinian market of settlement products and boost Palestinians’ confidence in their national products, he said.
- - - - - - - -end of JPost article May 7, 2010 - - - - - - - - - - -
The background of the stores' owner, Rami Levy, is also noteworthy.
This was the first threat of its kind issued by the PA against Palestinians who visited the Israeli supermarkets, which are named after their founder.
Levy, who was born in a tin shack in Jerusalem’s Nahlaot neighborhood in 1955, founded the company in 1976. He has never lived in a settlement.
The supermarket chain has 16 branches all over the country.
This shows that hardwork and ingenuity can lead to success in Israel, although I have yet to find my pot of gold. Anyhow, Rami Levy's story is one of rags to riches.
Another lesson of this episode is that Arabs have the wherewithal to shop in a supermarket. They are not living on the verge of starvation eating a daily crust of bread provided by the UNRWA or some other Western-run charity. Of course, both Jews and Arabs are looking for the best price that they can get for a good product. That's how Levy built his stores' reputation. Low prices, wide variety [his stores are very large supermarkets], and satisfactory quality.
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