In more Rubashkin news…
The New York Times has issued a searing (ha! pun not-so-much intended) editorial on the Postville affair, titled, “The Shame of Postville, Iowa”
In my opinion, skip the editorial and go straight to the source, an eye-witness essay of the handling of the workers. It is pretty disgusting and it’s too early in the morning to share any reactions; it’s really awful enough to stand on its own, no reflection necessary. Read for yourself at your own risk of queasiness and rage.
inside the essay you’ll find joyful reports, such as:
Driven single-file in groups of 10, shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles, chains dragging as they shuffled through, the slaughterhouse workers were brought in for arraignment, sat and listened through headsets to the interpreted initial appearance, before marching out again to be bused to different county jails, only to make room for the next row of 10. They appeared to be uniformly no more than 5 ft. tall, mostly illiterate Guatemalan peasants with Mayan last names, some being relatives (various Tajtaj, Xicay, Sajché, Sologüí…), some in tears; others with faces of worry, fear, and embarrassment. They all spoke Spanish, a few rather laboriously. It dawned on me that, aside from their Guatemalan or Mexican nationality, which was imposed on their people after Independence, they too were Native Americans, in shackles
Um . . . fascinating.
—merliner · July 14th, 2008 at 9:43 am
I”m totally disgusted with the kashrus industry. No more meat for this family–except a little Weiss’ chicken for the kids on Shabbos. Whole thing makes me sick–how can we rely on people who would treat other human beings this way? Not to mention earlier substantiated claims of horrible animal cruelty at the same place, which Rav Belsky pretty much gave a pass to. Never thought I’d end up vegan….
—duvimom · July 15th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Uhh, the treatment of those in custody had nothing to do with the Rubushkins or the “kashrus industry”, it was Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Let not put blame where it doesn’t belong.
—Galil · July 17th, 2008 at 10:45 pm