By Jenny Nyman | Project Leader
On July 23, Hewar appeared before the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice in a hearing on our petition against the Ministry of Education, demanding it provide financial support to our school. The ministry supports every other private school in Israel, including a large number of alternative, Jewish schools. This petition was filed following the ministry’s decision not to fund Hewar School during the academic year 2013-14, despite the fact it finally granted us an official licence to operate as a private school - after an eight-year battle with the authorities.
In a decision issued last week, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected Hewar’s petition, thus consolidating the Education Ministry’s authority over budget allocations to private schools. It further supported the ministry’s claim that our school is not unique in the Arab community in Haifa, and therefore not needed, but that it in fact damages the public school system in the city.
However, we at Hewar strongly reject these claims and maintain that in fact the position taken by the Ministry of Education as well as the Supreme Court of Justice, is merely a cover for an ongoing policy to repress the Arab minority in Israel. Full control of our educational institutions is crucial to this end.
By refusing to recognise the right of Hewar to exist, the Ministry of Education therefore essentially denies us, the Arab minority in Israel, our right to choose the kind of education we wish to provide for our children. Instead, it continues to force us into a system that imposes a one-sided and distorted view of history, negates our culture and heritage, and discourages our children from thinking critically and developing their creative communication and problem-solving skills.
In these times, when the racism, violence and incitement against Palestinians is reaching unprecedented levels, we find it is more important than ever to continue struggling for our freedom of expression, to promote the ideals of democracy and encourage open dialogue.
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