Way to go, guys. Give Israel’s enemies ammunition to prove that Israel is racist, by being racist assholes.
Four months after harrowing accounts of discrimination against Ethiopian students, Ynet has reported that the parents’ associations of the three largest state religious schools in Petah Tikva plan to shut down these aforementioned institutions next week to protest what they call “outright discrimination by private schools in the city as well as the Petah Tikva municipality.†Other state religious schools might also join in this boycott.
On Sunday, the school day at the city’s three major state religious schools will begin at 10am, and starting Tuesday, the Petah Tikva Parents’ Association has announced that it would suspend studies indefinitely to protest the fact that religious private schools in the city are not accepting their fair share of Ethiopian pupils. The boycott will affect the Morasha School, Ma’alot Chaim school, and the Kfar Ganim School which have a total combined number of 2,000 pupils.
This is shameful. Refusing to accept Ethiopian pupils? And the reason would be….?
I’d love to say this is a one-time thing. But there appears to be a pattern of discrimination against Ethiopian Jews by certain religious schools in this town.
These Ethiopian immigrants were consequently placed in a separate classroom at the very end of the school corridor. One teacher alone was allotted for teaching them all of the various academic subjects. Moreover, the girls were assigned different recess hours to their peers, and given cab fare home so that they would not “overly socialize†with the rest of the girls.
The girls’ parents immediately noticed that their children were lonely, depressed and less than eager to go to school. “We do not understand what we did wrong, what crime we’re guilty of. Is this only because we are black?†they asked Ethiopian activist Daniel Uriah, who tried to speak to the principal on their behalf and was unceremoniously kicked out of the school building. Uriah then met with the director of the education administration, who told him that “the school in question is elitist and the girls must learn how to behave if they would like to fit in.â€
Uriah next turned to Deputy Mayor of Petach Tikva, Paltiel Aisenthal of the National Union-National Religious Party. At a joint meeting with the girls’ parents, Aidenthal glibly stated: “Don’t worry about it. We know what is best for the girls. It is no big deal if they are separated from their peers.â€
Unacceptable. Unacceptable actions, unacceptable answers.
I normally do not write about subjects like this. There are more than enough Israel-bashers out there, and while I read all of the news, positive and negative, I prefer not to get into the disagreements on various subjects (particularly the “Who is a Jew” argument). But this? If there is anything other than racism behind this story, I’m at a loss to figure it out.
A Jew is a Jew is a Jew. The Ethiopians are black-skinned? That won’t stop Hamas and Hezbullah from murdering them because they’re Jewish.
Right on target, Meryl. There have been all too many incidents like this (though even one would be too many). I’m glad that the subject is being brought out into the open. Maybe that will help stop this discrimination, which is both a violation of Jewish law and a hillul ha-Shem (desecration of the Divine Name).
There is a lack of integration. From my limited observations, the Ethiopians who live near my brother seemingly keep to themselves.
On the other hand my nephew, whose Bar Mitzvah I attended last year, had a couple of Ethiopian friends. One of them came in second place in the Tanach test one of my other nephews put together.
I suspect the place where Ethiopians and Bnai Menashe are most welcome is Chevron (where the anti-Arab “racists” live.)
dan l’chaf z’chus (judge favorably)
There are some indications of what is going on in the second article you listed.
[snip]
So, is all of this true? I don’t know; do you? But even if you take this as discrimination, there is no evidence that it is racial discrimination. I think there may be something else going on here. There is a wide range of observance among communities and schools, and at least in the US, most religious Jews try to send their children to a school which is compatible with their own practices. Is that not happening here? Is the government of Israel (GOI) just presuming that all religious Jews are alike and therefore they can send them to any schools? Why is the GOI deciding where these students should attend school in the first place?
On the other hand… There is apparently evidence of actual racial discrimination in some cases:
My problem with that “elitist” excuse is that one of the caveats listed was refusing to allow students who have internet access at home.
Say what? Tell me where in the 613 mitzvot it says that having the internet is forbidden.
Also, read the quotes from the people making excuses for what happened.
And lastly–these are the schools that are getting more money from the government that are refusing to have Ethiopians in their schools. While I’m utterly confused than private schools receive more funding that public schools, something smells funny about this story.
That is actually not all that uncommon among right-wing haredi groups in the US (and presumably Israel as well). Their thinking is that the internet, like television (which they also shun) allows too many outside influences into the family’s and especially their children’s lives. It’s one of the major dividers between the haredi and the modern orthodox.
That does sound strange. But then, Israel’s political system is a joke, and governments have been known to pay off small parties with favors like that.
A few clarifications:
1) EVERY school in Israel – including schools that are ostensibly “private” – receives government funding.
2) As the Religious Zionist movement has become more stringent in observance, many have left the “Religous Public School” system and started “private” schools. Typically, a core group of parents and educators sets up a private/charitable association, solicits donations, and rents out space. Over time they petition municipalities for lots on which to build a building.
The government partially funds these schools on a per-student basis – in addition to out-of-pocket tuition and other mandatory fees – and pays for things like transportation and food programs.
These are the schools under discussion. They were specifically founded by parents who wanted higher standards – both religious and academic – than the “religious public school system” (AKA “Mamlachti Dati”) was providing.
The PROTESTS are being conducted by parents of the “Relgious Public School System” – which is basically a government-sponsored public school system as Americans understand it, with Jewish enrichment. These schools cannot turn away children in their neighborhoods, as per their public nature.
These parents feel that the private schools are not pulling their weight.
Yet it is not at all clear that the private schools are in any way obligated to accept any quota of Ethiopian kids – any more than they could/should be forced to accept kids who don’t meet their academic/religious profile.
This is part of a larger story in which the “Traditional but not Orthodox” parents who send their kids to the “Mamlachti Dati” schools feel that the religious are abandoning/dissing them.
3) It is a major stretch to think that Ethiopian kids – many of them first-generation immigrants themselves, from 3rd world rural background – are ready for such a highly competitive academic environment.
In addition, there is a significant number of Ethiopian immigrants whose Jewish status is in doubt.
4) The overall record of Religious Zionist educational institutions is overwhelmingly positive with regard to the absorption of Ethiopians.
The religious Zionists schools – both elemetary-level high schools and a network of professional schools and yeshiva high-schoools – were founded and funded through protracted battles with the secular elite, and were beacons of quality education in the depressed, neglected communities of North African immigrants during the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
Many of these institutions are doing for the Ethiopians what they did for the North Africans: providing support for both continued religious observance and academic/professional training – neither of which was/is provided by the secular elite.
IN SUMMARY:
What we have here is a longstanding grudge by those who have remained in the Public Religious School system – gleefully exploited by those on the left who want to denigrate the Religious Zionist movement.
“A Jew is a Jew is a Jew. The Ethiopians are black-skinned? That won’t stop Hamas and Hezbullah from murdering them because they’re Jewish.”
I often ask various protest vermin I encounter whether the Israelis or the Palestinians have killed more “people of color.” Usually, the answers reveal the antisemitic bigotry of the protest vermin. This being said, the fact that racial bigotry among a segment of Israeli Jews is acknowledged and discussed openly is a big step on the way to addressing the problem. The bigots do not have a halachic leg to stand on once they acknowledge that the Ethiopians are Jews Two examples of “Cushites” in Tanach stand out. One was one of Moshe Rabbenu’s wives. Another was a convert who got into a fight with a man who was born a Jew. The upshot of the examples is that the laws apply equally to all, and there should be no discrimination among Jews against other Jews.
chsw