Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Israel and Christmas

Ynet reports that Zara
has reduced the number of Christmas trees in its display windows in Israel and added Hanukkah candlesticks, apparently in response to shoppers' complaints that the Spanish company was marking the Christian holiday while ignoring the Jewish holiday.
Zara's customer service representative in Israel, speaking on behalf of the local franchisers, had a difficult time explaining the whole matter:
We, as ZARA franchisers, are obligated to act in accordance with the global ZARA rules," the representative explained. "We have Christian, Jewish and Muslim customers and we are a melting pot for all clients. Therefore, the Israeli branches don't deviate from the international concept and don't look any different from the branches in Spain
Apparently, the "international" concept is the one used in Spain and other European countries, and somehow, when Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are melted, you get Christianity. Obviously someone forgot to think here. Unless Zara has discovered that its biggest market in Israel consists of Christian shoppers, this decision doesn't make a lot of sense.

18 comments:

The wondering Jew said...

I wonder what the Zara shops in Muslim countries look like these days (if they have any).

Nobody said...

That was a somewhat surprising outbreak of a nationalist sentiment, Amos :D :D

Probably it was just a moment of mindlessness or something. Why do you care??

Nobody said...

The Effect of Child Allowances on Fertility

Noah K said...

I knew there actually was a war on Christmas! Shopping is bad enough as it is. Now I have to imagine myself in a melting pot in a Zara store? This is very unpleasant. Also, there are many more sparkling holiday trees of one sort or another to root out in Israel. The Romanians and Russians put them up all over in places like the old bus station district in Tel Aviv. Now that would be done in the Hasmonean spirit!

Amos said...

Nobody,

I don't care about the stores themselves; I was more annoyed at the lame explanation that the (presumably Israeli) customer service representative gave. It just doesn't seem like much of a "melting pot" when they're only putting up Christmas decorations. Plus, the Spanish in general really annoy me. They expelled the Jews in 1492 but their contemporary Israel-bashing is almost as antisemitic as that of the Greeks.

Amos said...

Very interesting study, btw. My intuition has been that if some of the child allowances for large families are reduced, ultra-Orthodox parents will still have similar numbers of children but more of the men will enter the workforce.

Nobody said...

I agree that their Israeli customer service is talking nonsense. But I would guess that it just never happened to them that in terms of holidays we are not part of Europe. Zara is not a missionary organization, they work for money. If their marketing department thinks that this way they are getting more customers in Israel, then it's their decision. Anyway, people were apparently complaining about Hanuka candles, they put some, the end of story. As to that representative, he's probably had no idea what to say and so came up with such a weird explanation. It's probably just him.

Amos said...

Whatever works for them is fine. I'm not in favor of any restrictions on Christmas decorations. Maybe Zara customers actually find these decorations very attractive, but I have a feeling that they could have saved themselves money and negative publicity if they had decided to pay a bit more attention to the local market. Perhaps I'm wrong though.

Nobody said...

Well, this I don't know. Could it be that their strategy outside Europe is to stress their Western/European identity? Never heard about such a thing before

Nobody said...

Amos said...
Very interesting study, btw. My intuition has been that if some of the child allowances for large families are reduced, ultra-Orthodox parents will still have similar numbers of children but more of the men will enter the workforce.


The ultras seem to be very resistant. It's just obvious when you compare them on the graph to the southern Bedouins. I think that BoI actually said somewhere that poverty among them declined because many went to work.

Nobody said...

You know, I once worked in a hi-tech company run by an utlra orthodox in Jerusalem. And the QA/R&D were packed with Russians. On 31 december, the owner assembled all of them in a hall and said: I know that you don't give a shit about our traditions, all you want is to eat pork and to drink yourselves to the point of unconsciousness. So you got three days off to finish yourselves off... and he closed the company until the next week

:D :D

Noah K said...

Hilarious story.

Nobody said...

:D :D

Nobody said...

@Amos

The BoI data seems to be significantly lower than the CBS. Say according to the CBS tables for Negev, the TFR for the southern Bedouins should be something like 7. In their tables by 2007 it was already about 5.5. The same goes about the ultras. The ultra orthodox should be something like 7.5-8.0.

Anyway, in their tables the non ultra orthodox Jews are at the replacement level 2.1-2.2. Basically that means that the secular are already sub replacement, while the traditionals and modern orthodox are expanding their share. I don't believe there is any stability among the non ultra orthodox, there is a demographic shift under way. Now add to this that they expect 1/3 of elementary students to belong to the ultra orthodox sector and the demographic shift is not just massive, it's super fast.

Nobody said...

In case you missed it: Israel's review by OECD

Amos said...

Seems like a fairly accurate report.

Nobody said...

It basically echoes the BoI data.

Two large minority groups in Israel – Arabs and the ‘Haredim’ (ultra-Orthodox Jews) – are
much less likely to have jobs and more likely to be poor than the general Jewish population.
But nearly half of children entering primary school belong to these two disadvantaged
groups
.

Though the Arab share should decline. The Arab birth rate started collapsing around 2000 and it's slowing down, though not at the same rate. It takes newborns something like 6-7 years to reach schools, so the Arab share will be down, but the ultras may more than make up for this.

Anyway, it's obvious that if it goes this way they will breed us into the Middle Ages, or into the Middle East, or both. It's impossible to maintain a modern state with such a problematic ethnic sectarian composition. Never mind that we may get a massive internal conflict.

Nobody said...

The poverty is also almost entirely demography driven. The elevated number of children below poverty line is because it's big families that are poor. They are poor because they make too many children. I would like to see some absolute statistics, not those recalculated based on the median. Just to see if the poverty is increasing in absolute terms, or they are just confusing poverty with inequality. Obviously, if the ultras are dead set on "pru u rvu", there is very little we can do about it. The Arabs should be different though.

I liked some of their recommendations:

It would make sense to reduce child payments (through the universal allowance) for families who are able to work, but who do not do so. Instead, EITC payments and child supplements to those receiving work-tested income benefits should be increased.
Such a reformed scheme would be more effective in reducing in-work poverty than the relatively high minimum wage. A successful tax credit would allow the minimum wage to be reduced over time to increase demand for low-skilled workers without harming family incomes.

I was always arguing for replacing child subsidies with tax credits and free child daycare to exclude the Arabs and ultras, at least those of them who don't work. And they have a point about the minimum wage, it's too high, it undermines employment prospects for low skilled workers.

Another one:

Improve provision of childcare, particularly in peripheral regions and majority-Arab areas of Israel, where this is currently limited.

Obviously, let them work. In fact many Arab women can find employment in such programs.

And this of course:

Within the Arab population, the Bedouin are particularly disadvantaged. The transition from a traditionally tribal and nomadic way of life into modern-day society is difficult for them. It is further complicated by land disputes between the state and Bedouin families. As a result, around half of the Bedouin live in ‘unrecognised’ villages, where basic amenities – electricity, water, sewerage, transport and telecommunications – are not guaranteed.

This is a kind of crazy. We are the worst enemies of ourselves.