XPost: can.general, ab.general, tor.general   
   XPost: soc.culture.british   
   From: intergroup@grosvenor.com   
      
   "The Kosher Food Tax is the biggest consumer fraud existing in   
   America."   
      
   The bizarre claim by right wing extremists that kosher   
   certification markings on food labels ("U," "K," etc.) cost   
   consumers extra money and represent, in effect, a "kosher tax" to   
   make rabbis rich, is a striking example of the propaganda used by   
   anti-Semites to trick the uninformed into accepting conspiracy   
   charges and stereotypes about Jews.   
      
   Other anti-Semitic allegations regarding kosher designation on   
   foods include charges that "the kosher food racket" benefits Jewish   
   organizations while only a small segment of the American population   
   desires such markings, and that even the meanings of the labels are   
   guarded secrets deliberately kept from non-Jews to trick them into   
   paying the "kosher tax."   
      
   The Facts   
      
   Attacks on the labeling of food with the symbols for kashruth   
   (traditional Jewish dietary laws) have been a standard ploy of anti-   
   Jewish bigots in the U.S. for decades. Such symbols as [encircled   
   U], emblem of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (UOJC),   
   among others, confirm that products are kosher -- i.e., that foods   
   and production processes have been inspected by competent rabbis   
   from the respective organizations and found to be in compliance   
   with Jewish dietary law.   
      
   The cost to the consumer for this service is a miniscule fraction   
   of the total production overhead; it is so negligible in practical   
   terms as to be virtually non-existent. A May 18, 1975 New York   
   Times article reported that the cost to General Foods' "Bird's Eye"   
   Unit, for example, is 6.5 millionths (.0000065) of a cent per item.   
   Furthermore, a representative of the Heinz Company has said that   
   the per item cost is "so small we can't even calculate it," and   
   that such labeling actually makes products less costly by   
   increasing the market for them.   
      
   Indeed, according to marketing manager Steven Zamichow, quoted in   
   the Washington Post, "Entenmann's Inc. received kosher   
   certification in 1981 and sales of [its] baked goods 'increased   
   substantially.'" Visits to the Entenmann's plant, from a   
   "mashgiach," or kashruth inspector, are provided by the Union of   
   Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. The UOJC is one of   
   several groups that maintain such a kosher inspection service,   
   certifying foods and related products to be in compliance with   
   Jewish dietary laws through all phases of production. The profit   
   from these products goes, of course, to the companies that   
   manufacture them and the stores that sell them, not to "the Jews."*   
      
   The Lies   
      
   The most active right wing extremist sources of the "kosher tax"   
   hoax are various Ku Klux Klan groups and the National States Rights   
   Party, based in Marietta, GA. The Invisible Empire Knights of the   
   Ku Klux Klan (now based in North Carolina), through its Empire   
   Publishing, offers a pamphlet titled "The Kosher Tax Swindle" to   
   its members and supporters. The pamphlet begins:   
      
   "American families are paying tribute to Jews every time they sit   
   down at the table to eat and in many instances, polish their shoes,   
   silver or wrap the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Why? Because Jews   
   have discovered a way to coerce business to pay taxes directly to   
   Jewish organizations and pass the cost on to the consumer."   
      
   The racist and anti-Semitic National States Rights Party ( NSRP),   
   founded in 1958, became a focal point of violent opposition to   
   civil rights struggle in the South and has functioned as both a   
   propaganda mill and a political party.   
      
   The party's founder, Edward Fields, has served as its National   
   Secretary, as well as the editor of the party's hate sheet, "The   
   Truth At Last" (formerly "The Thunderbolt"). Fields was also the   
   Grand Dragon of the now-defunct New Order, Knights of the Ku Klux   
   Klan.   
      
   "The Truth At Last" published a special issue in June 1990 which   
   dealt only with kosher symbols. Articles appeared in this edition   
   with such titles as: "Six States Make Rabbis Kosher Policeman   
   [sic]," "Secret Kosher Tax Boosts Food Prices," "How Kosher   
   Blackmail Works," and "Kosher Tax Symbols May Be Changed to Hide   
   Swindle."   
      
   "Describing" kashruth, Fields has written that "All of this is   
   superstitious nonsense and has absolutely nothing to do with   
   improving the quality of any food product. Still, this clever   
   scheme of requiring kosher labeling has become a multi-million   
   dollar business today!" Another article in "The Truth At Last"   
   asserted that the "kosher tax" is paid to Orthodox Jewish   
   organizations "just so an estimated 10% to 20% of Jewry will buy   
   their products," and that "we are all forced to pay this Kosher Tax   
   just to appease LESS THAN ONE PERCENT OF THE POPULATION!"   
      
   Bigotry Over a Beer Label   
      
   With the recent announcement that the Adolph Coors Brewing Co. will   
   carry the [encircled U] symbol on its beer, Hans Schmidt, founder   
   of the California-based German-American National Political Action   
   Committee (GANPAC) took it upon himself to write a protest letter   
   to Peter Coors, President of the company.   
      
   Schmidt, who was a member of the Hitler Youth and claims to have   
   served in the Waffen-SS during World War II, has been a leading   
   proponent of Holocaust "revisionism" in the United States for many   
   years. Following along the lines of many other anti-Semites,   
   Schmidt promotes the myth of "Jewish control" of banks, the media,   
   and the government.   
      
   In his letter to Peter Coors, Schmidt asserted that "as someone of   
   German descent you ought to be ashamed to acquiesce to this scheme.   
   You must know that the Jews in the aggregate use a lot of the   
   finances thus gathered to spy on non-Jews, to terrorize others   
   (JDL), to ruin other people's businesses (numberous Jewish   
   organizations and individuals), and to promote their political   
   power to the point where this country has been subservient to the   
   needs of another nation (Israel)."   
      
   Schmidt also repeated the usual false charges regarding kosher   
   symbols, including that "there usually are great costs and efforts   
   connected with the kosher certification and that rabbis will make   
   upwards of $450,000 from Coors." In a post-script Schmidt made the   
   suggestion that Coors add the following symbols to its label: "a   
   symbolic fish for Protestants," "a Catholic cross for Catholics,"   
   and "a Swastika for Nordics/Odinists."   
      
   Beating the "Tax"   
      
   Some extremists call for a boycott of foods and companies that   
   succumb to the "kosher conspiracy." For example, in an April 25,   
   1990 newsletter published by the Populist Party, a far-right   
   political group, chairperson Monica Rorhig states: "God knows we   
   are taxed enough already without volunteering to tithe to a foreign   
   country and a foreign philosophy. It's a kick to walk out of a   
   grocery store knowing you have successfully evaded this illegal   
   tax." Ms. Rorhig explains that through such means as this alleged   
   tax, "we (as a nation) are being carefully herded closer and closer   
   to International totalitarian tyranny." Pamphlets, in groups of 5-   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)