McDonald's 'no-Arabic' policy at its restaurants in Israel; Employee Fired

McDonald's Confirms 'no-Arabic' policy at its restaurants in Israel
Ali Abunimah & Nigel Parry, The Electronic Intifada, 5 March 2004

McDonald's Corporation today confirmed that it has a policy banning its employees from speaking Arabic in its restaurants in Israel, despite the fact that Palestinian citizens of Israel form 20% of its workforce, and Arabic is one of the two official languages of Israel. The Corporation denied, however, that Abeer Zinaty, a former "Excellent Worker 2003 -- McDonald's Israel," was fired because she spoke Arabic on the job.

EI co-founder Ali Abunimah received a statement from Julie Pottebaum, a spokesperson for Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's corporation, after EI contacted the company about the allegations contained in an article in Al-Ahram Weekly.

EI also issued an action alert to its readers, prompting calls and emails from all over the world, urging McDonald's to investigate allegations that it had a no-Arabic policy, and that at least one employee had been fired for violating it. EI received copies of emails sent to McDonald's from concerned readers in the US, the Czech Republic, and Jordan among other countries.

The McDonald's statement said that it was "absolutely not true" that Abeer Zinaty had been fired because she spoke Arabic on the job, and asserted that,

"her employment was terminated by her supervisor, a Palestinian Arab who also speaks Arab, for performance-related reasons."
At present EI cannot evaluate McDonald's claim specifically regarding the case of Abeer Zinaty, but is making efforts to obtain further information.

At the same time we are outraged that McDonald's has confirmed that it has banned the use of Arabic by employees at its 80 restaurants in Israel. The McDonald's statement said:

"As the largest quick-service restaurant employer in Israel, [McDonald's Israel is] proud that about 20% of its employees are Israeli Arabs and another 20% are Russian immigrants, which reflects the general population of Israel. Israeli Arabs and Russian immigrants are also represented in the many levels of management. While Hebrew, the common language between all employees, is required to be spoken when on duty in order to best conduct business and best serve our customers, no one has ever been let go for speaking their own language."

EI can see no justification for banning Palestinian citizens of Israel from using Arabic, their native language, a native language of the country and one of only two official languages of Israel. This policy directly contradicts McDonald's stated principles encouraging and celebrating diversity, fairness and respect for all its employees. It not only discriminates against Arabic-speaking employees, but also Arabic-speaking customers.

It is unimaginable that in its American restaurants, McDonald's would prohibit the use of Spanish, the most-commonly spoken language in the United States after English. In a context where Palestinian citizens of Israel face documented, systematic discrimination in employment, education and public services, McDonald's ought to be setting an example of equal treatment for all. Instead, it has, like so many other companies working in Israel, apparently chosen to make its Arab employees and patrons second class citizens.

In light of McDonald's admission of its no-Arabic policy, we urge our readers who are concerned about this issue to continue to contact McDonald's Corporation:

The Solution


1. Contact McDonald's Corporation in the United States to:
* Express your views about their stated policy of requiring all employees in McDonald's Israel restaurants to speak Hebrew, and prohibiting its Arab employees from speaking their own language with each other or with customers, even though Arabic is native to the country, and one of the two official languages of Israel;

* Demand that McDonald's Corporation immediately require McDonald's Israel to rescind its no-Arabic policy and respect the rights and dignity of its Arab employees and customers;

You may contact McDonald's by the following means:

Mail:
Mr. Jim Cantalupo
Chief Executive Officer
McDonald's Corporation
McDonald's Plaza
Oak Brook, IL 60523

Telephone:
1-800-244-6227

E-mail: Via McDonald's contact page

2. Please write original letters and do not simply copy & paste the information above. As always, be brief, polite, quote accurately, and include your name, address, and telephone number

3. Send a copy of your letter or any response you receive to info [at] electronicintifada.ne


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McDonald's Israel reportedly fires employee for speaking Arabic
Ali Abunimah & Nigel Parry, The Electronic Intifada, 5 March 2004


The Electronic Intifada urges its readers to write to McDonald's Corporation about allegations of institutionalized racism and discrimination against Arab employees by its subsidiary in Israel. At least one employee has reportedly been fired because she spoke Arabic to a co-worker.

The Problem

Abeer Zinaty, an Israeli citizen of Palestinian origin was fired from her job at a McDonald's restaurant in Ramle, central Israel, specifically because she spoke Arabic to a co-worker, according to a report by Jonathan Cook in Al-Ahram Weekly (4-10 March 2004).

The Al-Ahram Weekly report stated that, "Nominally, Arabic is an official language of the State of Israel, but it has been long-standing practice in many Israeli firms to ban its use among staff. It is the first time, however, that a company of McDonald's stature has implicitly acknowledged that speaking in Arabic provides grounds for dismissal. The decision to fire Zinaty for speaking Arabic was confirmed by McDonald's Ramle branch manager to Al-Ittihad, a local Arab daily newspaper, last month."

The Al-Ahram Weekly report added that in a subsequent letter to Mossawa — a political lobbying group for Israel's one million Palestinian citizens — McDonald's Israel's "Human Resources Director Talila Yodfat said that all workers are instructed 'to use only Hebrew when talking among themselves or in front of customers to avoid uncomfortable situations.' However, faced with threats of legal action, Yodfat is now also arguing that the ban on Arabic was not racist in intent but to avoid possible 'miscommunication' between staff of different ethnic groups."

McDonald's Corporation, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, says on its website that, "At McDonald’s, we know that people are our most valuable resource. We aim to be the best employer in each community around the world where we do business."

Among the "People Principles" it trumpets, are "Fair and respectful treatment" for all its workers anywhere in the world, and it boasts that, "McDonald’s has a long-standing and distinguished record for diversity — as an employer, franchiser, and purchaser of goods and services. We recognize not only a responsibility to provide opportunity, but also the advantages of having a workforce with diverse backgrounds and perspectives."

McDonald's says that throughout its system, "Diversity education is an ongoing process, creating awareness and building skill for managing an inclusive, diverse workforce at McDonald's."

If McDonald's Israel is banning employees from using their native language in its restaurants, which is also one of the official languages of the country, that would be entirely at odds with McDonald's stated principles of "social responsibility," and it would constitute an unacceptable form of racist discrimination.

McDonald's Corporation has over 13,000 restaurants around the world, including dozens in Israel and Arab countries.