Slippery Slope

Authorities in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Adumim, together with the Mateh Binyamin regional council, are planning construction of an educational complex about a kilometer outside the settlement’s built-up area, and to demolish a school serving the Jahalin Bedouin tribe, which was built without a permit since the Civil Administration has refused to issue a master plan for construction in the area in which the Bedouin have settled. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

Upper Nazareth Mayor Shimon Gapso has turned down an appeal to set up an Arab school for the city’s 1,900 Arab students, claiming the request conceals “a provocative nationalist statement intended to disrupt the status quo.” (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

According to eyewitness reports, an IDF force fired stun and tear-gas grenades at a school in the Palestinian village of Burin near Nablus two months ago, while students were in the school yard. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

A study by Van Leer Institute scholar Dr. Yusri Khaizran concludes that the Arabic language studies for Druze schoolchildren are being used to deepen a sense of Druze identity as separate from the Arab community by filtering out Arab nationalist writers and works that relate to a broader Arab literary context. (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

The parents of pupils at the “Noam HaMeiri” girls’ national-religious school in Lod threatened to shut down the school due to neglect and safety deficiencies in the school building.

(Hebrew – Ynet)

Minister of Education, Gideon Sa’ar (Likud), said last week that the achievements of Israeli pupils in an international test in mathematics “reflect a transformation”, even though the ministry knew that a comparison between the results of the latest test and the previous ones is not possible.  At the bottom of pg 422 of the TIMSS 2011 report there is a note stating that “data [are] not comparable for measuring trends to 2011, primarily due to countries improving translations or increasing population coverage.” (Haaretz)

(Hebrew – Haaretz)

Settlers threw stones at a school in the Palestinian village of Urif near Nablus.  The building sustained damage and several windows were shattered as a result of the stoning.  One of the Urif council members claims that the settlers arrived from the settlement of Yitzhar, and that they also threw stones at a tractor working near the school, shattering a window. (Ynetnews)

(Hebrew – Ynet)

A 14 year old boy reported that his class was asked in school to answer the question “what does it mean to be a good Jew?”. The teacher wrote several answers on the blackboard, including: serving in the army, marrying another Jew, visiting holy sites, and supporting the state.

(Hebrew)

According to high-ranked officials within the Home Front Command, the Israeli Home Front is deeply neglected due to lack of funds. In case of a missile attack, 1.7 million citizens will be left without shelter or protected space, 40% of Israel’s population will be left without protective NBC kits, plenty of school shelters cannot contain all students at once and the gaps between wealthy and poor local authorities are enormous.

(Hebrew)

The Lod Valley Regional Council refuses to provide school transportation services to the children of the Abu-Labda clan [Arabs -Eds.], who go to school in Ramla. As a result, these children have to go to school alone, for over two hours and mostly by foot.