Racism In Israel: NRP School Segregates Ethiopian Students

Ynet reports a National Religious day school in Petach Tikva segregated four Ethiopian girls from the rest of the student body because the Ethiopian children were not "religious enough." Yenet reports the school went so far as to give the Ethiopian girls cab fare home so they would not mix with white students and put the four in a separate classroom at the end of a hall. One teacher was assigned to teach the Ethiopian girls all subjects, while the rest of the student body had specialized teachers for every subject. Israel's Education Ministry condemned the school. So far, the rabbi in charge of the school has not apologized.

[Hat Tip: Ben Max.]

Comments

[Yakir Pinchas]

I would think that giving these girls their own teacher and paying for their cab fare home would be more expensive than to simply include them with the others. Anyway, if you pay for an education, you should get that for which you pay. If tax dollars are involved, then those who pay taxes have a right to the same services as every other tax payer. If none of them pay taxes, then none of them should even be receiving this service or any other tax-funded service.

[Paul Freedman]

I would say "Ashkenazi" for "white" here until the race-based basis for the prejudice is self-evident; there could be some sexual anxiety here too; the comfort zone for the frumm community isn't too broad--a Chabad emissary once prevented me from entering his house so that I wouldn't track polluting "non-religiousness" through his residence--I was neither Ethiopian nor a young girl at the time

[An Eternity Turns]

this was because the girl were not observant enough, and did not belong to the Religious Zionist Movement as do all of the students at the school.

Not observant enough? Are they Shabbat violators? Do they eat ham and cheese sandwiches? Little kids join movements?

Do the parents of the other students work in places where the non-observant and those of different political affiliation are segregated from the others?

. . . the school . . . reserves the right not to admit students who have a television or internet access in their home.

Oh brother! Not this nonsense again. Now with the National Religious?

Furthermore, school officials describe the cab rides home as a “perk” given to the Ethiopian students by the local municipality. “Who wouldn’t want to be chauffeured home in a cab?” they remarked.

If that just doesn't outright prove that they were discriminating against the Ethiopian kids.

Let's see, these are kids who are "not observant enough," are supposedly not up to the school's academic standards, are not affiliated the same politically as the rest of the school community, and kids who "the school only agreed to admit . . . at the municipality’s insistence" - and they are given "perks"? PLEASE!!!

That's like saying it wasn' discrimination in the Southern U.S. - they were just giving blacks "perks" - after all, who wouldn't want their own schools, drinking fountains, bathrooms, and restaurants? South Africa must have been even more generous with the "perks" since they gave blacks their own towns!

In addition to apologizing to those girls and their families, the school administration should have to apologize to everyone who read their statements this article for attempting to insult us by thinking we are stupid enough to buy their explanations.

[Garnel Ironheart]

This is extremely disappointing. The Dati Leumi community is supposed to be the one that remembers that the reason the Ethiopians came to Israel - because they're Jewish, same as the rest of us. If anything, this diversity should be celebrated.

[Ben Qor'ha]

petach tiqwa is that municipality which rabanut refuses to conduct marriages to benei yisrael indians. how did we learn in qohelet 1:6?
"6 The wind ..... turneth about continually in its circuit, and the wind returneth again to its circuits."
the 'qadosh barukh hu', punished us, by inflicting us on ourselves. (TM)

[Misnaged]

This proves again how the self-righteous Jewish Orthodoxy is nthing else but miserably fallible. Yishar koach to Conservative, Reform, Jewish Renewal and everything more menschlich than these cursed racists, yimah sh'mam!

[Yochanan Lavie]

Maybe we need an LBJ to desegregate the school.

[Sephardic-Male]

i thought these were Torah Observant Jews

[Ben Qor'ha]

Maybe we need an LBJ to desegregate the school.
I am afraid Yochanan that an LBJ will not suffice. We are talking here about those who see in themselves, Gd's contracted sole agents.

[dest]

We Israelis are pure. Ethiopians are very nice and beautiful people but they are black. Having them in a separate but progressive areas is not a bad thing. I am Israeli and I have a lot of Ethiopian friends but marrying with them and darkening the skin color of my family is not acceptable to my parents and to me.

[mosz]

well..well..."we Israelis are pure" How soon we forget huh?? hmmmmm Israelis digging their own grave. Any news of sustain hint in racism against dark skinned people.. racism based on skin color.. means death to Israel sooner or later. Any support you have in the west will dissolve like a puff of smoke in wind. wow...the irony is choking.. the bloods of those in German concentration camps and human slaughter houses is not dry and we have racism in Israel?

[Yochanan Lavie]

The same arguments can be made against the brown-skinned (but technically white) Temanim. Also, I knew an Ashkenazi guy, with an Ashkenazi name- no Sephardic blood and he was very dark. I heard that happens. So much for purity.

[Anna S]

Disgusting. Makes my blood boil.