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The Supreme Court will discuss the Nof Hagalil municipality's refusal to establish an Arab school

The discussion will deal with a ruling that states that there is no obligation to establish an Arab school in the city, even though thousands of children live there who are forced to be educated in nearby localities. It is the only mixed city in the country without an Arab educational institution Arabic language school

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• Galilee landscape

• Nazareth Illit

• Arabs

• The Arab sector

• Supreme Court

• The Nazareth District Court

Yoav Itiel and Eli Ashkenazi

Wednesday, 11 November 2020, 10:47

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Edited by Amit Simcha

The Supreme Court will hear today (Wednesday) an appeal against the ruling of the Nazareth District Court, which ruled that the Ministry of Education and the Nof Hagalil Municipality - formerly Upper Nazareth - are not obligated to establish an Arab state school in the city.

The appeal was filed by nine families residing in the Galilee landscape in October 2019, represented by the Association for Civil Rights, demanding the establishment of the first Arab state school in the city.

Judges Dafna Barak-Erez, Yosef Elron and Ofer Grosskopf will hear the appeal.

The Galilee landscape is home to about 10,500 Arab residents, who make up about 25% of the city's population.

About 3,000 of the residents are children of school and kindergarten age, and they make up more than a third of the city's students.

Despite this, there is not a single Arab state school in the Galilee landscape.

As a result, more than 90% of Arab students who live in the Galilee landscape, and want to be educated in their mother tongue, are forced to study in nearby Arab localities.

Most of them study in private schools in Nazareth.

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The only mixed city in Israel without an Arab school.

Galilee Landscape Municipality, 2016 (Photo: Eran Gilwarg)

As early as 2013, the parents of the students addressed the then mayor, Shimon Gepso.

However, instead of commenting on the request, Gepsu replied that it was a "provocative nationalist political statement".

According to him, the establishment of Arab educational institutions in Upper Nazareth - means "a final waiver of the Jewish character of the city."

Gapso also clarified that anyone who decides to move to Upper Nazareth "will know in advance that he will be bothered to transport his children to an Arab school."

In July 2019, the Nazareth District Court rejected the families' petition on the matter, ruling that the municipality's decisions not to act to establish an Arab school in the Galilee landscape or to promote any other solution are "reasonable and are certainly within professional and administrative discretion."

It was further determined that the decision of the Ministry of Education not to intervene or order the establishment of a school for Arab students is also reasonable.

This, after the municipality conducted a "survey" in the city and stated unequivocally that "there is no demand for it."

The district court found nothing wrong with the absence of an Arab school in the city, and ruled that the petitioners had nothing to complain about but themselves who cooperated with the municipality's moves "to which Arab councilors were a party."

The families were also ordered to pay expenses in the amount of NIS 12,500 to each of the respondents - NIS 25,000 in total.

He argued that the establishment of an Arab educational institution was a waiver of the Jewish character of the city.

Gepsu (Photo: Eran Gilwarg)

"Giving a different treatment to a student due to his belonging to a minority group is humiliating and degrading, and the appeal claims that it harms the student's sense of self, security and self-esteem," the Civil Rights Association said.

Advocate Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights, who represents the families on appeal, added that "Nof Hagalil is the only mixed city that does not have an Arab state school, and there is no other mixed city that refuses to establish a school for its Arab students.

" Ready to open a school, and the Ministry of Education unwilling to intervene, Arab students are tortured every morning to educational institutions in other localities.

They study under inferior conditions from the Jewish students in the city, and the Nof Hagalil Municipality's investment in their education is one tenth of the investment in the Jews who study there.

The court will be asked to clarify to the municipality and the Ministry of Education that Arab students from the Galilee landscape are entitled to study equally at a public school in their language and in their city. "

Did not find anything wrong with the absence of an Arab school in the Galilee landscape.

Nazareth District Court, 2019 (Photo: David Cohen, Flash 90)

Jaafar Farah, director of the Mossawa Center, who also accompanies some of the students' families, said that the very fact of such a subject coming to court is unfortunate.

"Although the city's population has become diverse, multicultural and multilingual, unfortunately its leaders still fail to internalize that they are supposed to provide an equal service to all residents - regardless of race, religion or nationality," he said.

He said, "Even a bilingual school that exists today in mixed localities such as Haifa and Jerusalem does not exist in the Galilee landscape. We are very sorry that such an issue comes to court at all, and has not been resolved at the local leadership level."

"Equitable service must be given to all residents - regardless of race, religion or nationality."

Flower (Photo: AP)

The deputy mayor of Nof HaGalil, Dr. Shukri Awada from the joint list, explained that opinions on the issue are also divided among the city's Arabs. "We in the municipality will ensure an appropriate solution for all ethnic groups, especially those who speak Arabic.

It is a little more complex than it seems on the surface, and there are opinions here and there among the Arabs in the city. "

Awada added that the dialogue that began with various factors, including the Ministry of Education, was interrupted by the corona crisis." But I promise an educational institution "Arabic will exist in the landscape of the Galilee," he stressed. "We will not reject the option of a bilingual educational institution, that is a promise."

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