Excerpt from blog post “Marketing Misfires”

Go to http://adiamondinsunlight.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/marketing-misfires/ for the original text.

I receive regular Google Alerts for the word JobShuk on the web, and was sent the link above, and to my excitement, it was a negative post ! Here’s what he wrote:

Rami of +961 wrote a short post earlier this week on the incongruity of seeing Lebanon-specific ads while reading Haaretz online. As a Lebanese citizen, it must be odd to see ads for “Jobs in Lebanon” (not to mention “Single Lebanese Girls”) while reading an Israeli paper – although I would argue that allowing Israelis and Arab state citizens to read one another’s press has been one of the great regional benefits that the Internet has provided.

So far so good. I skip ahead to the meat.

The next day I was in Brooklyn, where suddenly I was being asked to expand my wardrobe by visiting israelmilitary.com, an Israeli army surplus store selling everything from t-shirts to dog tags:

I do like shopping online, but this won’t be my new go-to site. Nor will I be spending much time on Jobshuk.com, a site that aims to “improve the financial situation of Israeli residents” by connecting Israelis in need of jobs with “Zionists worldwide”. (Shuk is the Hebrew word for “market” – and yes, its a close cousin of “souk”, the Arabic word.)

Why am I not a fan of Job Shuk? Because when it states that: “The alarming numbers of poverty, hunger, and unemployment in Israel are incongruous with the advanced, democratic, and technically advanced society which we are developing,” it isn’t referring to poverty, hunger, or unemployment among Palestinians.

Here’s my response:

Not to get into a political dispute, but it’s hard to open our hearts to a people whose public message is the destruction of our population and land. When the “Palestinians” destroy the infrastructure given to them, such as in the disengagement in Gaza, or take the job opportunities given to them to run Israelis over with bulldozers, it’s hard to forgive and forget.

Political views aside, JobShuk is a business model aimed for a niche market, and unapologetically does not include “Palestinians” in that market, just as The National Organization for Women is not designed for men.

No tears shed here, how about you?