6 thoughts on “JTA’s Ace Reporting on Kosher Slaughterhouses – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. OT to this post…

    My compliments to you, Richard, on the lovely slideshow that heads up Tikun Olam blog. The images are gorgeous, and the fact that they change gives them more impact. The tile olive tree and the bowl with the hands are both unbelievably beautiful to look at. Thank you.

  2. This issue leaves me with mixed feelings actually. But a longer note just disappeared due to a wrong move, so I leave it to a shorter statement:

    Slaughter practices and animal rights?

    Were have we heard this before? Also isn’t there a similar campaign against Arab slaughter techniques? Is it justified to allege these animals suffer more than others?

    What interest groups could are involved here?

    Feds: Illegal Workers and drugs?

    Illegal workers: What American or Jewish American would want to work in such a plant?

    What is the state of the US meat market? Main competitors? We had a series of scandals that go much deeper, were bad meat was distributed, although it clearly should have been destroyed. While illegal workers surely is a hot issue, but also more manipulative argument … as it is a necessity in a harder price fight.

    Why was’t there another huge raid like this? Or is JTA only suggesting so?

    Drugs?

    It surely must be interesting to go there. If it was me, I’d study the rumor mill in the region and then look at the meat and food market.

  3. This triggered your reaction: “the threat to the kosher meat supply.” Right?

    That I can partly understand. I could have been formulated more carefully. But don’t we all sometimes write something that does not contain our main concerns?

  4. Wow, I couldn’t disagree with you more. In fact, if I had to say anything about JTA’s reporting on this issue, I would point out that they haven’t done as good a job as the New York Times, the Forward, or many of the bloggers.

    This is the largest kosher slaughterhouse in the country, which means that it kills animals for food for both observant Jews and for other meat eaters, because kosher slaughterhouses sell the parts of animals that aren’t kosher to the non-kosher market. This latest scandal comes on top of PETA’s accusations that the plant has been involved in some pretty major animal cruelty. The PETA investigators who took video of what was happening in the plant were observant Jews–observant Jews have a huge stake in the animal cruelty issue, if only because it could make the meat treif.

    The EPA has indicted the plant for polluting the local environment. The ICE conducted the single largest raid on undocumented workers. Both NPR and the NY Times reported on how the Feds forced the workers to plead guilty. One of the government’s translators risked his job and reputation to document the injustice toward the illiterate Guatamalan peasants who were shackled and imprisoned for working in the plant. The community in Postville has been decimated. There is just way too much to say about the environmental, immigration, animal cruelty and social justice issues around this meat packing plant.

    One problem that I have with the US Jewish community’s Israel politics is that we focus on Israel to the exclusion of other issues that are also important.

  5. @balabusta: I didn’t expect an observant Jew would agree with me. And I didn’t say the story wasn’t worth covering. And I didn’t say these weren’t valid concerns. I said that featuring it in a fundraising appeal as if this is the most important story JTA has covered, showed the insularity of JTA’s approach to the Jewish world.

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