LOS ANGELES (ACN) - La Voz de Aztlan receives quite a few "news tips" per week from our many subscribers and readers. Some we dismiss immediately but a very few catch our attention. Last week we receive an e-mail asking us if we knew the significance of the small encircled letter "U" or letter "K" that can be found printed on many food cans, food packages and on other kitchen products. The message gave us some clues and suggested that we do some research into the subject. What we found certainly was "news" to us and it both shocked and angered us. On arriving at my residence, I immediately went to the pantry to verify that what I had just learned was actually true. Sure enough, most of the packaged and canned foods from major companies, like Proctor & Gamble and others, did have the (U), the (K) or other similar markings. The Arrowhead water bottle, the instant Folgers Coffee, the Kelloggs box, the Jiff Peanut Butter, the Pepper container, the Trader Joe's tea box and even the Glads plastic sandwich bags carton had the (U) or (K) mark on them. We needed a little more verification so we called two major companies to asked some questions. We chose Proctor & Gamble that markets the Folgers Coffee and the Clorox Company that manufactures the Glads plastic zip lock sandwich bags. Each of the two companies, as well as most others, have 1-800 telephone numbers printed on their packages for consumers to call in case they have any questions about their products. When we asked the Proctor & Gamble representative what the (U) meant on their Folgers Coffee container, she asked us to wait until she consulted with her supervisor. She came back and informed us that the mark meant that the coffee was " certified kosher". We than asked her how and who certified the coffee to be "kosher" and whether it cost any money to do so. She refused to answer these and other questions. She suggested that we write to their Corporate Public Affairs Department. We than called the Clorox Corporation to ask what the (U) meant on the package of their Glads plastic sandwich bags and she also said that the (U) meant that the plastic bags were "kosher" but refused to answer questions concerning payments the Clorox Corporation has to make in order to be able to print the (U) on their products. What we learned next, pretty much floored me personally. I learned that major food companies throughout America actually pay a Jewish Tax amounting to hundreds of million of dollars per year in order to receive protection. This hidden tax gets passed, of course, to all non-Jewish consumers of the products. The scam is to coerce the companies to pay up or suffer the consequences of a Jewish boycott. Jewish consumers have learned not to buy any kitchen product that does not have the (U) the (K) and other similar markings. Another shocker was learning who is actually behind these sophisticated "Kosher Nostra Scams." It turns out that the perpetrators of these elaborate extortion schemes are actually Rabbinical Councils that are set up, not just in the U.S. but in other western countries as well. For example, the largest payola operation in the U.S. is run by those who license the (U) symbol. The (U) symbol provides protection for many products sold here in Aztlan and in the United States. This symbol is managed by the The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations with headquarters at 333 Seventh Avenue in New York City. The scam works like a well oiled machine and is now generating vast amounts of funds, some of which are being utilized by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis to support the Ariel Sharon Zionist government in Israel. The website of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations is full of pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian propaganda. The "Kosher Nostra" protection racket starts when an Orthodox Rabbi approaches a company to warn the owners that unless their product is certified as kosher, or "fit for a Jew to eat", they will face a boycott by every Jew in America. Most, if not all of the food companies, succumb to the blackmail because of fear of the Jewish dominated media and a boycott that may eventually culminate in bankruptcy. Also, the food companies know that the cost can be passed on to the consumer anyway. The food companies have kept secret from the general consumer the meaning of the (U) and the amount of money they have to pay the Jewish Rabbis. It is estimated that the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, which manages the (U) symbol protection racket, controls about 85% of the "Kosher Nostra " certification business. They now employ about 1200 Rabbi agents that are spread through out the U.S. Food companies must first pay an exorbitant application fee and than a large annual fee for the use of the (U) copyright symbol. Secondly, the companies must pay separate fees each time a team of Rabbis shows up to "inspect" the company's operations. Certain food companies are required to hire Rabbis full time at very lucrative salaries. The amount of money that the non-Jewish consumer has paid the food companies to make up for the hidden Jewish Tax is unknown, but it is estimated to be in the billions since the scam first started. The Orthodox Jewish Councils as well as the food companies keep the amount of the fees very secret. The Jewish owned Wall Street Journal wrote about the problem many years ago, but they have stopped writing about it now. Only public awareness concerning the "Kosher Nostra Scam" will eventually help stop this swindle of the American consumer. Public education of the scam may lead to an eventual non-Jewish boycott of all products with the (U), (K) or other Jewish protection symbols. I certainly do not need to pay extra for "kosher water", "kosher coffee" or "kosher plastic sandwich bags". In fact, I demand my money back for all the money I had to pay over the years for the hidden and illegal Jewish Tax. Are there any bright attorneys out there that could bring a class action suit against the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations on behalf of the citizens of Aztlan and other non-Jewish people? ___ La Voz de Aztlan http://www.aztlan.net/koshernostra .htm Comment Michael Santomauro

Editorial Director

RePortersNoteBook.com

4-29-2 One of the major unspoken reasons for Anti-Semitism in the business world is the kosher tax. Back in the 1980s, I used to be a well known business broker in New York City. What I know is worse than this essay. Someday, I will tell the full story about the kosher tax that we are all forced to pay. Comment The 'Kosher Tax' Hoax From Anti-Defamation League ADL.org 4-30-2 Introduction "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 product labels (" [kosher certification] " "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 the " [kosher certification] " emblem of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (UOJC), among others, confirm that products are kosherói.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." Shopping at Kosher Butcher Shops In the separate case of kosher meat and poultry purchased at kosher butcher shops (as distinguished from the broad general range of mass-market consumer goods certified kosher), the consumer does pay a higher price. This cost is due to the more intensive, continuous rabbinical supervision required for the exacting technicalities of kosher slaughter and inspection, processing, storage and quality of kosher meatóan inescapable necessity for this particular product, applicable only to its limited market, not the general consumer. 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 Food 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 the 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 that 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!" [Two more sections] http://www.adl.org/special_reports/kosher_tax/kosher_intro.html Comment From Susan Bolles

5-3-2 Dear Jeff, I had to do the math. I had hoped to find out that it really was a fairly insignificant tax. But, this is what the numbers say. If the average kosher tax on a Birds Eye frozen food is .0000065 And if you purchase an average of 35 U or K items per week The total paid for the kosher tax over a year for one person is: 0.01183 That's a pretty small number. But...there are 281,500,000 people living in the United States according to the 2000 census figures with a median age of 35.3 years old. So if you multiply the number of people by the tax, well, its starting to add up to a lot of money. $3,330,145 total paid per year for the kosher tax. I wouldn't call that insignificant. Take it a step further, and if this has been paid for the last 35.3 years-median age of an American, that adds up to: $117,554,118.50 And that's a lot of money. I think Its not really fair that the consumer should pay for the services of a religious organization to monitor food production. If anything, the organization should be providing the service for free. But, that's just my two cents. Best wishes, Susan



Comment From William Fairchild

5-8-2 I first learned about this scam around 1975 when I was reading Liberty Lobby's Spotlight newspaper. They have been accused of being anti-Semite. I don't care about attacks on messengers; I just read their message. Liberty Lobby's recommendation was that we should all take a healthy tax deduction for a donation to a charitable organization to offset the annual cost of this extortion. Since it is hard to know exactly how much extra each product costs, one might reasonably deduce that with the high cost of food these days that several hundred dollars per year are involuntarily extracted from each of us to be "donated" to these religious, and thus charitable, organizations. The ADL's reply was quite predictable. First they emotionally attacked the messenger by using words like bizarre, right wing, extremists, make rabbis rich, propaganda, anti-Semites, conspiracy, stereotypes, allegations, racket, guarded secrets, trick, kosher tax, and on and on ad nauseam (VERY much nauseam). Next their reply claims to give us the FACTS. The first "fact" they give us is just more rhetoric filled with words chosen to provoke emotional responses (attacks, ploy, anti-Jewish, bigots) or sympathy (inspected, competent, compliance). Then we are finally given the real "fact" that the cost is .0000065 cents per item. This "fact" is introduced with the descriptive words miniscule, negligible, and virtually non-existent. I guess it totally slipped their minds to tell us what an "item" is. Susan Bolles assumes in her reply that an "item" is a package. I would not be so hasty as to assume this. Knowing how sleazy and sneaky these exploiters are, and how reluctant the companies are to divulge the actual cost, I would rather assume the worst case, which is that each individual pea, bean, or kernel of cut corn is an "item" So if a one-pound package of cut corn contains 500 kernels (just a guess), then the scam kosher tax on that whole package is $000325 This is one third of a cent, still a miniscule amount to be added on for my one-pound package, but do the math as Susan Bolles did and you will find that this scam has made the rabbis richer by possibly $58 billion in the last 35 years That's probably too much, so maybe there aren't really 500 kernels in one pound of cut corn"

It would serve the ADL's interests a lot more if they would tell us the WHOLE TRUTH as well as "the truth". Please let us know the exact dollar amount per year that General Foods, Heinz, and some other major food distributors pay for protection, and thus pass on TO ME, in order not to be boycotted by less than one percent of the population. Until the ADL divulges these numbers, I intend to remain anti-Semite on this and only this one issue. But I will always remain anti-sleaze and anti-coverup, which is exactly what the ADL's 4-30-2 email is. What the ADL and rabbis are doing to our food distributors is exactly what Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Johnny Cochran are doing to all major businesses. It's called a shakedown, and it is a protection racket. Bill Fairchild

living somewhere in the UkSA

(United kosher States of America)

