Category Archives: Israel

Workers Rights in Israel

It’s not very often that Rosh Hashanah falls so close to Labor Day.  But it gives me an opportunity to connect the dots between Labor and Israel by sharing a recent report on the rights of working people throughout the world, and specifically Israel.

Freedom House, a research organization that compares the freedom of the world’s people, has released a Labor Day report that shows how workers are faring in different corners of the globe.  The full report includes many charts and graphs, but I want to share with you one particular chart.  It shows how countries in the Middle East compared regarding worker freedom.  The grading system is 4= very free, 3=mostly free, 2=partly free, 1=repressive, 0=very repressive.

click on image for larger version

Should we be surprised by any of this data???  No, of course not.  Having been formed in 1948 as a social democratic country, workers rights have always existed in the State of Israel.  By contrast, look at Saudi Arabia.  Every American president, regardless of party, sucks up to the Saudis because of their oil wealth.  But Saudi Arabia is one of the most repressive countries in the world, and they spawned most of the 9/11 hijackers.  It is no surprise where they fall on this chart.  The great paradox is that Israeli Arab workers have more freedom in Israel than they would have in ANY Arab country!

BTW, the U.S. only rated a 3.  You can go to www.freedomhouse.org for the full report.

be well, and may the new year bring you blessings of health and happiness.

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