Israel’s school apartheid highlighted by court case
JMD Morgan
Arab family sue Jewish mum over �racist incitement�
By Jonathan Cook in Nazareth
11 August 2009
Jonathan Cook considers the case of a one-year-old Arab baby girl who
was expelled from an Israeli day-care centre on her first day because
the racist Jewish parents of the other children objected to having an
Arab girl at the centre.
An Arab couple whose one-year-old daughter was expelled from an Israeli
day-care centre on her first day are suing a Jewish mother for damages,
accusing her of racist incitement against their child.
Maysa and Shua�a Zuabi, from the village of Sulam in northern Israel,
launched the court action last week saying they had been �shocked and
humiliated� when the centre�s owner told them that six Jewish parents
had demanded their daughter�s removal because she is an Arab.
In the first legal action of its kind in Israel, the Zuabis are claiming
80,000 US dollars from Neta Kadshai, whom they accuse of being the
ringleader.
The girl, Dana, is reported to be the first Arab child ever to attend
the day-care centre in the rural Jewish community of Merhavia, less than
1 kilometre from Sulam.
However, human rights lawyers say that, given the narrow range of
anti-racism legislation in Israel, the chance of success for the Zuabis
is low.
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has operated an education system
almost entirely segregated between Jews and Arabs.
However, chronic underfunding of Arab schools means that in recent years
a small but growing number of Arab parents have sought to move their
children into the Jewish system.
Dana was admitted to the day-care centre last December, according to the
case, after its owner, Ivon Grinwald, told the couple she had a vacant
place. However, on Dana�s first day six parents threatened to withdraw
their own children if she was not removed.
Ms Kadshai, in particular, is said to have waged a campaign of �slurs
and efforts aimed at having [Dana] removed from the day-care centre,
making it clear that [her] children would not be in the same centre as
an Arab girl�. Mrs Zuabi was summoned to a meeting the same evening at
which Ms Grinwald said she could not afford to lose the six children.
She returned the contract Mrs Zuabi had signed and repaid her advance fees.
Mrs Zuabi said that while she was in the office Ms Grinwald received a
call from Ms Kadshai again slandering Dana and demanding her removal.
Ms Grinwald refused to speak to the media last week. However, last
December, when the Zuabis first complained, she told Israeli Army Radio:
�The [Jewish] parents called her a girl from �the [Arab] sector�, they
said this is a day-care centre for Jewish children and that it should
stay that way... I can�t change the world, I have to look out for my
livelihood.�
Although Israel lacks a constitution, the Zuabis� lawyer, Dori Kaspi, is
suing Ms Kadshai under the terms of the 1992 Basic Law on Human Freedom
and Dignity, the nearest legislation Israel has to a bill of rights.
In previous cases when Arab children have been excluded from schools,
the parents have launched a legal action for discrimination against the
education authorities or the school itself.
Lawyers are doubtful that the couple can win given the law�s lack of
reference to the principles of equality or equal opportunities.
One lawyer, who wished not to be named, said: �Instances like this are
not covered by laws against discrimination. Anti-discrimination
legislation in Israel is very specific, covering mainly examples of
discrimination in employment and access to public places like pubs and
clubs.�
Even then, the lawyer added, enforcement was extremely lax.
Instances of Arab children being denied places at Jewish kindergartens
and junior schools have become more common in recent years, especially
in the country�s handful of mixed cities.
Yousef Jabareen, head of Dirasat, a Nazareth-based organization
monitoring education issues, said when parents tried to switch their
children to Jewish schools it was because of the poor conditions in Arab
education institutions.
�Although it�s an understandable reaction, it�s a cause for concern,� he
said. �In Jewish schools Arab children are not taught their language,
culture or history. Their Arab identity has to be sacrificed for them to
receive a decent education.�
A report published in March revealed that the government invested 1,100
dollars in each Jewish pupil�s education compared to 190 dollarsfor each
Arab pupil. The gap is even wider when compared to the popular state-run
religious schools, where Jewish pupils receive nine times more funding
than Arab pupils.
There is also an official shortfall of more than 1,000 classrooms for
Arab children, said Mr Jabareen, though Arab organizations believe the
problem is in reality much worse. In addition, a significant proportion
of existing Arab school buildings have been judged unsafe or dangerous
to children�s health.
In some parts of the country where private religious schools are
available, particularly in Nazareth and Haifa, Arab parents are turning
their back on the state-run system, said Mr Jabareen.
Two-thirds of the 7,500 Arab pupils in the northern mixed city of Haifa,
for example, are reported to be attending private schools, despite high
levels of poverty among the population.
Last September, the Adalah legal centre for Israel�s Arab minority
forced the municipality of the mixed city of Ramle, near Tel Aviv, to
register an Arab boy in a Jewish kindergarten close to his home.
The mayor, Yoel Lavi, had earlier told the boy�s parents that he could
not be admitted because he was an Arab and that the kindergarten served
only Jewish children.
Mr Jabareen said he favoured binational and bilingual schools in which
Jewish and Arab children could meet and study as equals. However, the
state did not offer such schools to parents.
Four bilingual elementary schools admitting both Arab and Jewish
children have been established privately. Israel has no mixed secondary
schools.
Mike Prashker, director of Merchavim, an organization advocating shared
citizenship in Israel, recently told the Haaretz newspaper: "The Israeli
reality of segregated education systems creates ignorance and fear of
the �other�.�
A poll published by Haifa University in January found that
three-quarters of Jewish pupils regarded Arabs as �uneducated,
uncivilized and dirty�.
A recent survey by Merchavim found that the segregation among pupils was
mirrored by segregation among teachers. Despite some 8,000 Arab teachers
being recorded as unemployed by the Education Ministry, only a few dozen
work in Jewish schools, mainly teaching Arabic, even though the Jewish
system is suffering from staff shortages.
The previous dovish education minister, Yuli Tamir, established a public
committee last year to develop for the first time a �shared life� policy
for Jewish and Arab schools.
The committee issued its report earlier this year recommending more
meetings between Jewish and Arab children, that Arabic should be taught
to Jewish pupils, and that schools should employ both Arab and Jewish
teachers.
The new right-wing government of Binyamin Netanyahu announced it was
freezing the report in April.
Jonathan Cook is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His
latest books are �Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and
the Plan to Remake the Middle East� (Pluto Press) and �Disappearing
Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair� (Zed Books). His
website is www.jkcook.net.
A version of this article originally appeared in The National, published
in Abu Dhabi. The version on this website is published by permission of
Jonathan Cook.
Gary Renzetti
Absolutely disgusting!
Now, perhaps "mirjam" will try and spin this one, to tell the world how
"wonderful" the zionist racists really are.
Not that I'm going to hold my breath...
docremington
Gary Renzetti wrote:
> JMD Morgan wrote:
> > [Kook's garbage]
>
> Absolutely disgusting!
> Now, perhaps "mirjam" will try and spin this one, to tell the world how
> "wonderful" the zionist racists really are.
> Not that I'm going to hold my breath...
>
No need to. It's Jonathan Kook and his drivel, what else is new.
z
> Israel’s school apartheid highlighted by court case
> Arab family sue Jewish mum over “racist incitement”
>
> By Jonathan Cook in Nazareth
>
> 11 August 2009
>
> Jonathan Cook considers the case of a one-year-old Arab baby girl who
> was expelled from an Israeli day-care centre on her first day because
> the racist Jewish parents of the other children objected to having an
> Arab girl at the centre.
wow. you'd never catch a day care in an arabic country discriminating
against a jewish kid!
or, for that matter, one in the US or europe against an arabic kid.
good to see you're putting your efforts on the major problem with
racism in the world. now if you'll excuse me, i have to go explain to
some people that it's not impossible for the president of the US to
have been born in the US even though he is black.
Docky Wocky
"However, chronic underfunding of Arab schools means that in recent years
a small but growing number of Arab parents have sought to move their
children into the Jewish system..."
So, doncha wonder what the outcome will be when the Joos OK the move, and
the first arab teenie-bopper comes to kindergarten with a suicide vest, or a
remotely detonated Mohammed lunch box full of nails and C-4?
Gary Renzetti
This was a year-old infant that the zioturds fucked over.
Docky Wocky
"Fuck off, Dicky Wicky!
This was a year-old infant that the zioturds fucked over..."
_______________________
Hm...must have hit the old liberal asshole nerve by the reaction.
And now we have the ideal conditions where one arab kid with parents who
have chips on their shoulders, plus the religion of peace coaching them in
the background...that kid will be lining up some Joos and blowing itself to
smithereens as soon as it can toddle over where they point it.
Gary Renzetti
one-year-olds indeed. This has nothing to do with Islam or Jewdism
either. It's just old-fashioned bigotry.
rizv...@optonline.net
The following is a copy of an article written by Spanish writer
Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez and published in a Spanish newspaper on
1-15-08. It doesn't take much imagination to extrapolate the message
to the rest of Europe - and possibly to the rest of the world.
==============================
REMEMBER AS YOU READ -- IT WAS IN A SPANISH PAPER
Date: Tue, 15 January 2008 14:30:20 -0500
ALL EUROPEAN LIFE DIED IN AUSCHWITZ
By Sebastian Vilar Rodrigez
I walked down the street in Barcelona, and suddenly discovered a
terrible truth - Europe died in Auschwitz. We killed six million
Jews and replaced them with 20 million Muslims. In Auschwitz we
burned a culture, thought, creativity, talent. We destroyed the
chosen people, truly chosen, because they produced great and
wonderful people who changed the world.
The contribution of this people is felt in all areas of life:
science, art, international trade, and above all, as the conscience
of the world. These are the people we burned.
And under the pretense of tolerance, and because we wanted to prove
to ourselves that we were cured of the disease of racism, we opened
our gates to 20 million Muslims, who brought us stupidity and
ignorance, religious extremism and lack of tolerance, crime and
poverty, due to an unwillingness to work and support their families
with pride.
They have blown up our trains and turned our beautiful Spanish
cities into the third world, drowning in filth and crime.
Shut up in the apartments they receive free from the government,
they plan the murder and destruction of their naive hosts.
And thus, in our misery, we have exchanged culture for fanatical
hatred, creative skill for destructive skill, intelligence for
backwardness and superstition.
We have exchanged the pursuit of peace of the Jews of Europe and
their talent for hoping for a better future for their children, their
determined clinging to life because life is holy, for those who
pursue death, for people consumed by the desire for death for
themselves and others, for our children and theirs.
What a terrible mistake was made by miserable Europe.
***********************************
A lot of Americans have become so insulated from reality that they
imagine America can suffer defeat without any inconvenience to
themselves.
Absolutely No Profiling! Pause a moment, reflect back, and take the
following multiple choice test.
These events are actual events from history. They really happened!
Do you remember?
HERE'S THE TEST
1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
a. Superman
b. Jay Leno
c. Harry Potter
d. A Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and=2 0 40
2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and
massacred by :
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d . Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon
by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year
old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his
wheelchair by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davey Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremist s mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy
diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women
problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as
missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining
two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverte d and
crashed by the passengers.
Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
No, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?
So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics
intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be
allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches
of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper
identification, secret agents who are members of the President's
security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal
of Honor winner and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males
between the ages 17 and 40 al one lest they be guilty of profiling.
Let's send this to as many people as we can so that the Gloria
Aldreds and other dunder-headed attorneys along with Federal Justices
that want to thwart common sense, feel ashamed of themselves -- if
they have any such sense.
As the writer of the award winning story 'Forrest Gump' so aptly
put it, 'Stupid is as stupid does.'