Thursday, June 27, 2013

McDonalds Israel - I'm Not Lovin' It

Rami Levi is opening a new Mall in Ariel, a largish Israeli town of 18,000+ people, which happens to be over the Green Line (i.e., it's in the West Bank). McDonalds Israel has refused to open a branch there, as its policy, set by owner Omri Padan, is not to do business beyond the Green Line. As founder of Peace Now, Omri Padan has solid left-wing credentials. He also seems to be pretty open about the connection between his personal philosophy and his business decisions.

This is not the first time that McDonalds Israel has been in the news recently for extra-culinary reasons. In November 2012, at the end of Operation Pillar of Defense, a terrorist placed a bomb on a bus in Tel Aviv, injuring over 20 Israelis. He then returned to his job at McDonalds in the Modiin Mall. Omri Padan seemed to be pretty quiet about distancing his company from its employee's action.

If you support peace, you have to rejects efforts from both sides which you feel hinder it. If not, you may be using your ideology to mask a deeper bigotry.

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