Israeli cleaning company charges based on race and characterizes Arabs as a security threat, according to flier

It charges customers less for black cleaners and more for white cleaners, and says Europeans are "better workers"

Published February 8, 2016 6:00PM (EST)

An Israeli cleaning company charges customers less for black cleaners and more for white cleaners, according to a flier circulating the internet.

The company advertised its rates in a leaflet handed out in the major northern city of Tel Aviv, Israeli newspaper Haaretz flier.

It charges customers 49 shekels an hour ($12.60) for an African cleaner, 52 shekels ($13.40) for an Eastern European cleaner and 69 shekels ($17.70) for an Eastern European cleaner with Israeli citizenship.

The flier also characterizes Arabs as a security threat, instead offering cleaners of different races and ethnicities.

"Don't want to hire an Arab for security reasons?" reads the leaflet. "Tired of being legal employers and getting sued by any passing worker? There's a solution."

When the spokesperson listed on the flier for the unnamed company was contacted by the Israeli website Mako, she said charging different rates based on race and ethnicity is not illegal, and said European cleaners cost more because they are "better workers," BBC reported.

Israeli journalist and blogger Tal Schneider posted a photo of the flier to Facebook.

"Outspoken racism is seeping into Israeli society. Pricing employees according to race," she wrote. "Admit that you haven't thought of that yet. Israel 2016."

הגזענות הבוטה מחלחלת לתוך החברה הישראלית. תמחור עובדות לפי גזע. תודו שלא חשבתם על זה עדיין. ישראל 2016(מכר אסף פלייאר שחולק בצפון תל-אביב היום בבוקר)

Posted by Tal Schneider on Friday, February 5, 2016


By Ben Norton

Ben Norton is a politics reporter and staff writer at AlterNet. You can find him on Twitter at @BenjaminNorton.

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