printBy American standards this is a remarkable—and remarkably alien—news item from Ha’arets, the Israeli leftist, if excellent, daily. The reporting is unusual in its avoidance of biased epithets such as “racist, racism, bigotry,” etc. Just the facts, Ma’am.
Here’s the gist: Three of the nominally private, religious schools in the city of Petah Tikva refused to accept Ethiopian students “assigned to them by the municipality unless they [could] first determine if the children suit the schools’ character.”
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar said Monday that students of Ethiopian origin could not be accepted into religious schools in Petah Tikva because of “halakhic reasons,” referring to proof of the immigrants’ Jewish status.
Sa’ar met with Amar on Sunday night and requested that he check the possibility that the Ethiopian students still not enrolled in schools be sent to secular state-funded institutions.
The laws of orthodox Judaism are exclusionary, and Ha’aretz makes that clear.
It remained for the authorities at the respective education departments to shout “racism.” As did President Shimon Peres and Nobel Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu (my father’s former friend, with whom I too took afternoon tea), who hails from the most violent country in the world: South Africa.
Against their propagandist, sanctimonious admonitions, Ha’artz manages to chronicle the events sans pejoratives. Imagine MSNBC living up to those journalistic standards, or “Pravda on the Hudson” (NYT) doing the same.
The “private” schools may wish to cease taking taxpayer funds if they want to keep their independence.
Come on, Ilana. Pravda had far more journalistic integrity!
I follow the intent of this posting- To show that a newspaper can report the facts of a case, without use of slur-words or yellow sheeting; I agree a commendable use of newsprint.
I do have some concerns in regard to the referenced article. “Education Ministry: Petah Tikva schools must accept Ethiopian kids.” In which Mr. Peres appears to incite 10th graders to march on the schools. For him to invite children to become “Social Activists” today leads to the possibility of the students later being encouraged to become “Youth protests” seen on college campuses and the G-8 conferences as well as rock throwing Palestine kids on the Israel borders. The school system has issued a statement that they (being the people in charge) would take care of the matter. For that matter, perhaps the private school may have a legitimate issue that needs to be resolved as well. Adult heads will resolve the issue, without 16 year olds marching around the school, singing, “We shall overcome.”
Even if the kids are not recognized as Jews, they could still be educated (converts are allowed and expected to LEARN Torah – so it is NOT forbidden to give religious education to a non-Jew) – so it is an abitrary decision on the part of the religious schools but NOT religiously dictacted. My daughter could not be educated there nor could the last kid in her former class who just had a Bar Mitzvah (his mom was a convert and a Çonservative rabbi but not recognized as Orthodox). On the other hand, why does one need to impose values on the haredi? The best solution is to not have a government role in education. What is also interesting is that the Othodox have no problem taking money from those whom they consider non-Jewish.
Fortunately, it isn’t my business!