Slippery Slope

The Ministry of Culture and Sport plans to change the requirements for state funding so that museums will no longer have to provide Arabic explanations for short-term exhibits. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

A petition filed by the Mossawa Center for Arabs citizens’ rights, in collaboration with the National Committee for the Heads of Arab Local Authorities asks the High Court of justice to direct the Ministry of Culture and Sports to allocate equal budgets to the Arab sector. The petitioners claim that the Ministry of Culture and Sports ignores recommendations issued by State Comptroller’s Office, which reported in 2008 that Arab-Israeli cultural institutions are under-budgeted. The report called on the Culture and Sports Ministry to conduct a need survey and prepare a multi-year plan to remedy the problem.

Half of the museums that are required to provide visitors with Arabic captions as a prerequisite to receiving financial support from the Ministry of Culture and Sport fail to do so.