Intel Inside? Prove It.
Here is a thought experiment. It is Sunday, and various employees of Intel's R&D and consulting facility in Chantilly, VA, just outside of Washington, are working through the week-end. The facility is suddenly surrounded by several thousand evangelical Christians--mainly educated at Regent University, and led by the aged Pat Robertson--who demand that the company shut down the facility, so as not to violate the holy Sabbath. Windows are shattered by rock throwers. State police move in, but do not disband the mobs.
So Intel's senior management go into a huddle. They authorize the local management team to meet with Robertson's representatives, along with representatives from the Virginia governor's office, now in the hands of rightist Republicans. At first Intel threatens to pull out of Virginia. But finally they approve a compromise agreement. The facility can stay open, the agreement states, but the shifts will be reduced. Also, on Sundays, only non-Christians can work there.
Imagine, in this fantasy, what the Intel board would face at the next shareholders' meeting. Or imagine the employee emails the corporation's global "Director of Diversity," Rosalind Hudnell, would be fielding the next morning.
Well, if haven't already heard, something quite like this just happened in Jerusalem.
A week ago Saturday, Intel's facility on Har Ha'Hotzvim--a technology park in a belt of land near (but not at all in) the burgeoning ultraOrthodox neighborhood of Sanhedria--was surrounded and vandalized by acolytes of various Haredi rabbis, most notably, the leader of Eda, Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss. Intel met with representatives of the Haredi groups, facilitated by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin--both rightists tied to Haredi voters. The Sabbath shift, so the "compromise" stipulates, will be cut from 120 employees to 20. None of them will be Jews. (By the way, this absurd agreement may have satisfied most, but not Rabbi Weiss. His mobs were back yesterday demanding a complete shut down.)
What can Intel's leadership possibly be thinking? Have they lost all sense of who they are, let alone what Intel has meant to Israel? Intel's global sales are roughly equal to Israel's GDP. Intel's billions of dollars of investments in Israel have not only made it the country's largest high-tech employer, but have engendered dozens of entrepreneurial businesses, from software to clean-room building.
Even more important, perhaps, Intel has been something like Israel's most important business school, putting thousands through management and quality training over the years. Its impact on Israel's business culture has been something like MIT and the Sloan School on Cambridge, Mass. It is because they experienced companies like Intel that a new generation of cosmopolitan managers (people who, unlike their parents' generation, know how to listen) has grown up in the "Silicon Wadi" of Tel-Aviv, Herzliya, and Haifa. Indeed, Intel-Israel's former CEO and founder, the legendary Dov Frohman, has a briskly selling book on leadership. My God, if Intel will not stand for ordinary secular norms of human rights in Israel, who will?
PERHAPS THE MOST depressing thing about this affair is the way Intel's management seems to have concluded that this is the price you pay for operating in a Jewish state. Intel's employees chant, "Bum-bum-bum-bum"; presumably, employees in the Jewish state may now and then be forced to add, "Cheery-beery-bum!" Okay, this may not be the place to go into it, but Intel's decision implicitly capitulates to the notion, so casual among many clueless American Jews, that Israel is a something like a big shtetl, run to a great extent by Halachic rules, rationales, and rabbis. This capitulation is dangerous: to Israeli Arabs, to Palestinians, but above all to Israel's secular citizens who mostly consider themselves Jews in a wholly different way.
Look, last week, on a glorious Friday morning, my wife and I drove to Tel-Aviv and participated in a lively seminar to celebrate a new Hebrew translation of Freud's Moses and Monotheism; in the afternoon, we saw a brilliant, elegiac show about the settlements of the Valley of Jezreel by the Kfar Yehoshua artist, Eli Shamir--our budding Andrew Wyeth. This Hebrew version of the global thin
g, including a Hebrew version of Intel, is the real reason for this country. You can have Shabbes in Teaneck.
Which is not to say that Intel executives should take sides in a Kulturkampf to decide the historical reasons for Zionism. It is to say that Intel should just have the guts to be itself: to stop pandering, to stop thinking that it shows its tolerance for diversity by surrendering to diversely intolerant people. In fact, a majority of Israelis are counting on the conscience of the world to help them muddle through against Hamas on the one hand, and, on the other, the one-third (and growing) part of the of the Israeli population who want, say, the national orthodox assassin of Yitzhak Rabin to be released from prison. Intel, and all global companies operating in Israel, should be a pillar of (here, I'll say it) Western values. Allow fanatics to push out this pillar, and our souls will die with the Philistines.
Ethnic nationalism was never the best of Western values. If secular Israelis want their country to reflect the better Western values (tolerance, secularism, pluralism), they'd do well to dispense with this bastard one. I'm afraid the complaints of liberal secular Jews ring hollow as long as they remain committed to preserving Israel's ethnocratic essence. Ethnic nationalism leads in one direction and one direction only. And that direction is not toward tolerance.
November 22, 2009 8:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just a nit pick: "better Western values" might be better said as "new world values." Though it can be argued that Europe is attempting to move away from it, I think there's a lot of evidence that they are still struggling with the ethnic nationalism thingie. Not to mention southeast Asia where their input in creating nation states dividing ethnic populations is still being felt. (Heck, even where they didn't have that much input examples: China--Han, Tibetan, Uighur; the Kurds in Iran and Turkey...) It can easily be argued that non-ethnic pluralist states of the U.S., Australia, Canada, some Latin Americans, are still not the norm as far as world population is concerned, tribalism still rules. I don't disagree with you, though, that this puts liberal secular Jews in a problematic place.
November 22, 2009 8:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
the above meant as a reply to the comment by "Purple State" @ 8:35 AM, and not to Mr. Avishai.
November 22, 2009 9:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "Intel, and all global companies operating in Israel, should be a pillar of (here, I'll say it) Western values."
MY COMMENT: If Israel's constitution allows this sort of thing to go on, then why should Intel, and all global companies operating in Israel, bother trying to be a pillar of "Western values"?
In the case of your Virginia-based 'thought experiment', I assume the U.S. Constitution would protect Intel from the type of religious intimidation/extortion that is taking place in Israel. Quite possibly the venerable ACLU (founded by Justice Louis Brandeis) would be willing to help Intel with issues regarding the U.S. Constitution.
Perhaps global companies should consider a nation's constitution (or lack thereof) before investing so heavily in a country. Caveat emptor!
At any rate, I will not be purchasing any computers with Intel processors (or other Intel components, if possible). AMD processors are generally considered to be the equal of those produced by Intel, but in the event that is not the case I am certainly willing to make the sacrifice.
November 22, 2009 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "I will not be purchasing any computers with Intel processors (or other Intel components, if possible)" - ME, DICKERSON3870
ALSO SEE:"San Francisco Chronicle Fires Reporter For Attending Peace Protest", by Amy Goodman and Henry Norr, 04/24/03
(excerpt)...NORR: ...And then there was another thing last summer I wrote in my technology column. I wrote a column about a $2 billion dollar, state of the art, high-tech factory that Intel owns in Israel. I wrote about the history of the land that that factory is on and about the Palestinian villagers that were there before. It's a complicated story, but it happens that that land was subject to some special legal agreement. There were just two villages but the Israeli government had signed a treaty, an international agreement, protecting the rights and property of the Palestinians who lived there back in 1948 for historical reasons. And then of course, almost immediately after they signed the agreement, they proceeded to do what they did elsewhere in Palestine: chase and terrorize the local residents out of their villages. They eventually converted that area into what they call an economic-development zone.
Many years later, in the 90s, Intel happened to choose it as the site for this state-of-the-art fancy factory. So I wrote about that kind of as a metaphor perhaps, for Israel's so-called first-world high-tech economy and the foundations it sits on. Needless to say I actually I got a tremendous amount of support. I was amazed. Most of the email I got about the column was supportive and appreciative. But the local pro-Israeli Zionist lobby was outraged and the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco, which is kind of the cheerleader coordinator for those forces apparently, was outraged and, I found out later because nobody at the Chronicle told me, but apparently they came and demanded an immediate meeting to object to my column...
ENTIRE TRANSCRIPT - http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0424-04.htm
November 22, 2009 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
the one-third (and growing) part of the of the Israeli population who want, say, the national orthodox assassin of Yitzhak Rabin to be released from prison.
.
i wonder if bernard will be living in israel 15 years from now as the contradictions between religious jewish purity, democratic ideals, and demographic fears escalates.
thought experiment --- captain Derek Jeter apologized to new york fans for wanting an arab player to play for the yankees.
israel --- Aviram Baruchyan meets with football team's fans, apologizes for saying he would be happy to see an Arab play. Baruchyan said at the end of Thursday's meeting, "The most painful thing is that I unfortunately hurt Beitar's fans, and I understood that I hurt them very much. [ LINK ]
thought experiment --- a new york group of vigilantes patrol the streets looking for black and white couples on dates to protect "the privilege of white people, our traditions, our heritage"
israel --- For more than a decade, David has considered it his unofficial job to patrol the streets looking for mixed Arab-Jewish couples. “We are protecting the Jewish people, our traditions, our heritage. Some people just get mixed up. We talk to them, explain why it’s important for Jews to be with Jews,” he said. [ LINK ]
thought experiment --- new york passed a new law called Land Administration Law which prevents non-whites and non-christians from owning property while the new york mayor proclaimed that new york is an open city that permits all its inhabitants to purchase homes in all of the city.
israel --- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed this week that Jerusalem is an "open city" that permits all its inhabitants, Jewish and Palestinian, to purchase homes in both its eastern and western parts.... According to Israel Lands Administration rules, residents of East Jerusalem cannot take ownership of the vast majority of Jerusalem homes. When an Israeli citizen purchases an apartment or house, ownership of the land remains with the ILA, which leases it to the purchaser for a period of 49 years, enabling the registration of the home ("tabu"). Article 19 of the ILA lease specifies that a foreign national cannot lease - much less own - ILA land. [ LINK ]
November 22, 2009 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
It seems like the rea tension there isn't between Intel and Israel but between Israelis. One thing America's founders knew that Israel's did not is that having a religious government is incompatible with having a democratic republic. Sorry but this is one of our first principles. You just can't have an American style democracy if you ignore it. I doubt you can have any acceptable level of democracy without it.
You can't count on the secular majority to overpower the stridently religious because the secular majority is almost by definition less passionate about these issues and more willing to look the other way so long as they're not forced into anything. Imagine you're a secular Jewish employee of Intel in this case. What are you fighting against, exactly? A day off?
That's why it's essential to have something that says the government is religiously neutral. Then you can easily answer the extremists: I know you'd like us to do X but we're forbidden. That principle also gives the secularists something to rally around and something to push back with. In the U.S. many secular forces want to serve a higher power -- the constitution.
November 22, 2009 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I look at the increasingly unhinged and unashamed pursuit of raw power in US fundies as part and parcel with the Hebrew version in Israel, and the Islam fundies' drive for Sharia law.
"Western" values are actually being threatened right out in the open by fundies of every (Abrahamic) stripe in these alleged 'bastions' of modernity.
I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that religion has, is and will be the greatest threat to liberty and free inquiry - it's actually kind of a no brainer, but I have baggage...
Because I actually do darken the door of a church now and then - and I had a great experience with CYO as a youth leader.
Still, you look at the fundies of the world and must come to the conclusion of the world's most famous Jew (it's not Barbra Streisand)...
"By their deeds ye shall know them."
November 23, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Haredi are the price one has to pay for a Jewish state, a homeland for all Jews. As you say, sort of, its not Intel's place to decide how to handle them. I personally would draft the lot of them, throw them onto the front lines in the most dangerous situations, and hope for the best/worst. But it's not my place to make the decision either.
Intel, could have chosen a better spot to build. They probably chose the site they did for tax and incentive reasons. Too bad. Now they're paying the price.
November 22, 2009 12:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd put the Rosenberg family in the same regiments.
November 22, 2009 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
1. The government is handling it reasonably, I expect the situation to improve. It will take a couple of weeks. The situation is forcing the government to put more cops on the street on the Sabbath, which is ironic.
2. The idea of Israel is different from the idea of America. Israel is a Jewish State, the US has a significantly larger separation between "Church and State".
3. There is a sort of cognitive gap, the cops and government are used to handling terrorism and war, and the vandalism we're seeing now seems like small potatoes, until they get their minds around it. I think they will. Netanyahu understands the stakes.
4. Local Intel management probably understands the situation better and I'll bet they're happy with the solution. But headquarters back in the US could over-react, I think.
November 22, 2009 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
But is the idea of Israel compatible with the idea of democracy?
November 22, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "My God, if Intel will not stand for ordinary secular norms of human rights in Israel, who will?" - Avishai
ANSWER: [SOUND OF A PIN DROPPING]
November 22, 2009 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe intel can just stop building facilities in Israel and cut back on their investments there. There are, after all, plenty of other places in the world that would love to have Intel's R&D without the having to deal with religious zealots,a crazy right wing government, and an apartheid state that discriminates against 22% of its citizens.
Better still, perhaps Intel, an American company, could cut back on outsourcing and bring the operations back to the US where unemployment among high tech workers is hitting new highs. Israel is no cheaper than most places in the US, and its workers no better than silicon valley's that has plenty of ex-Israelis who'll be happy to work for them (I know 3 currently unemployed ex-Israelis there who are searching for a job and the last thing they want to do is uproot their families and return to the madness of Israeli society with its infinite divisions and intractable xenophobia).
I'll be personally writing a letter to Intel and recommending that they revisit outsourcing to Israel. Absolutely unnecessary and obviously counterproductive. just why do they need this headache of a parochial little state of zealots, ruled by zealots, for the zealots is beyond me.
I know Avishai likes the global high-tech "culture", but if it's so global, it doesn't need to be in Israel . This, IMO, just goes to show how silly outsourcing R&D is in general (I'm against it to any country, actually). I bet most israelis who work at Intel would love a job offer in the US. Everyone I know over there always asks how can they get out. Their religious version of the taliban with their yeshiva-madrassah brand of in-your-face-preachiness there is one reason. The other is the sheer unpleasantness of living in a place that most of the world now despises for human rights violations.
November 23, 2009 3:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "Maybe intel can just stop building facilities in Israel and cut back on their investments there. There are, after all, plenty of other places in the world that would love to have Intel's R&D without the having to deal with religious zealots,a crazy right wing government, and an apartheid state..."
SEE: "Intel closing Oregon plant, 4 other facilities", By The Associated Press, Originally published Wednesday, January 21, 2009
(excerpts) ANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel said today that it is consolidating its manufacturing operations as a part of a restructuring bid that will affect thousands of jobs from the U.S to the Philippines — including Oregon.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 employees will be affected, though some may be offered posts at other facilities, the company said...
...The city of Hillsboro expects Intel to cut about 1,000 jobs, said city spokeswoman Barbara Simon. She said the company employs about 15,000 people in Hillsboro, many in research and development...
Intel currently employs about 84,000 workers. The company expects to complete the job cuts by the end of the year.
Last week, Intel posted a whopping 90 percent decline in its fourth-quarter profit, hurt by declining demand for its microprocessors — the brains of PCs — amid the economic downturn...
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
SOURCE - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008656261_webintel21.html
November 27, 2009 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "My God, if Intel will not stand for ordinary secular norms of human rights in Israel, who will?" - Avishai
MY COMMENT: Abe Foxman and/or the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)?
SEE: "Foxman blasts J Street on Palin, questions its ‘pro-Israel’ slogan", By Eric Fingerhut, 11/19/09
(excerpts)...The head of the Anti-Defamation League says J Street's attack on Sarah Palin's defense of Israeli settlements was "over the line" and questioned whether the group should be calling itself "pro-Israel."..."They're attacking a celebrity for supporting Israel, but not in the way they want her to support Israel," he said referring to the former governor of Alaska...
...Foxman acknowledged Palin's remarks -- in which she said Jewish settlements "should be allowed to be expanded upon" because "more and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead" -- were a "simplistic effort to be supportive of the Israeli government," but also "clear and well-intentioned" and "didn't put any lives at stake."...
ENTIRE ARTICLE - http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/11/19/1009314/foxman-blasts-j-street-on-palin-questions-its-pro-israel-slogan
November 25, 2009 10:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "My God, if Intel will not stand for ordinary secular norms of human rights in Israel, who will?" - Avishai
MY COMMENT: B’nai Brith?
SEE: ‘Responsible’ Jewish human rights org says: ‘It’s 1938′, by PHILIP WEISS, 11/23/09
Chris Varley sends along B’nai Brith Canada’s ad on the back page of the first section of The National Post, Monday, November 9. He says he looked for the ad on the B’nai Brith website and the National Post’s. Couldn’t find it. Note that there’s no reference to Iran here, it’s just all of radical Islam that wants to "annihilate" the Jews and "subjugate everyone else." Oh and they’re fighting "racism."
SCAN OF AD (JPEG) - http://mondoweiss.net/2009/11/responsible-jewish-human-rights-org-says-its-1938.html
November 25, 2009 10:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
RE: "My God, if Intel will not stand for ordinary secular norms of human rights in Israel, who will?" - Avishai
SEE: "How we became a night unto the nations", By Yoel Marcus, 11/25/09 - Haaretz
(excerpt)...Before sticking our noses into the problem of Iran's nuclear program, which is a source of international concern, it would be preferable for our government to discuss how we got to where we are - no longer a light unto the nations - and what needs to be done to stop the freefall in our international image before it's too late...
ENTIRE COMMENTARY - http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1130262.html
November 25, 2009 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink