Israel Matzav

Israeli home wares store offers discount to Arabs only

Home Center, a popular national home wares chain store (similar to Home Depot in the US), has been offering a 10% discount on 'certain products' to 'minorities.' The only minority eligible are the Arabs.

Home Center customer Eli Chai arrived at his local branch at the Renanim Mall in Ra'anana last Tuesday, with the intent of buying a power drill, several tools and a number of other products. As the cashier began scanning his purchases at the checkout line, Chai noted that before passing each product the register computer would ask the cashier 'Minority Discount.' The cashier, said Chai, clicked 'no' and continued scanning the goods.

"I wasn't sure I had really seen what I thought I had," Chai recounted, "it was strange, I hadn't encountered anything like it before. I wanted to make sure, so I asked the cashier what the discount was, and why he was not giving it to me.

"He insisted that it wasn't a discount. But I said, cancel the purchase and scan it again. So he relented and said, 'It's a discount only for minorities'."

Chai claimed that, to his understanding, the chain offers a 10% discount on specific products for people belonging to a certain minority.

"I asked him what it meant, and he said, 'a discount only for Arabs'. I said, 'What do you mean, if I was Arab you would give me a discount?' He said yes. Definitively. It was really strange. I decided not to argue and to forgo the discount, so I paid full price for the products I had purchased.

"I didn't expect to get a discount, but I was appalled when I realized that had I been Arab I would have received one. I tried to think what would happen if it was a discount only for Jews, or Sephardim, or Ashkenazim," he concluded.

If there were a discount only for Jews, only for Sephardim or only for Ashkenazim, the ACRI (local equivalent of the ACLU for you Americans) would file a petition with the High Court of Justice the minute they find out about it.

Home Center admits that the discount is 'company policy':

"Home Center offers a wide range of attractive discounts throughout the year. As part of a plan to target specific communities, the chain offers different discounts for different sectors from time to time," the statement said.

I wonder if they've ever offered a discount to any other community. You can bet that they haven't.

For those who are wondering, Home Center is owned by the Fishman Group. The Fishman Group is recognized as one of Israel’s largest and most renowned private investment groups. It is primarily involved with investments in Real estate, Retail, Media and Telecommunications. Its chairman is Eliezer Fishman. Fishman heads one of the twelve groups that runs Israel's economy and put Kadima into power. Draw your own conclusions.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:00 PM