Last update - 00:00 13/11/2006
Hebrew Israelites strike over lack of funding for education
By Daphna Berman, Haaretz Correspondent
The Hebrew Israelite community's school in Dimona will go on strike indefinitely on Monday to protest the Education Ministry's decision to withhold funding for buses, which transport children living outside the city to school.
Since September 1, some 70 Hebrew Israelite children who live in Mitzpeh Ramon and Arad have been at home and unable to get to school, because there is no funding for transportation to bring them to Dimona.
Achva, the community's school, is recognized by the Education Ministry and was created specifically for the Hebrew Israelite children to teach the community's culture, preserve its lifestyle and enforce their strict vegan diet. Hebrew Israelites have lived in Dimona since 1969. They believe they are descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes and practice polygamy, among other customs.
Most of the student body is from Dimona, but a significant percentage of the students are from outside the city and have been unable to attend school since the start of the year.
"Our children have been at home for two months, but how can they keep up that way? It's like they're being forced to fail," said Koliyah Ben Israel, head of the school's parents committee. "The children shouldn't suffer because of bureaucracy."
For the past 12 years, the Education Ministry has allocated an estimated NIS 450,000 a year to bus the children to school. But the ministry withheld funding for September and has so far allocated just NIS 40,000 to cover the transportation costs for October.
The NIS 40,000 has been transferred to the Association for the Advancement of Education for the Children of the Hebrew Community in Dimona, a non-profit organization created by the state in 1994 to deal with the community's schooling needs. But the association insists it needs a year-long commitment from the ministry before it can resume transportation.
"The ministry has transferred money, but only for one month," said Dr. Amram Melitz, head of the nonprofit and former head of the Education Ministry's Southern District. "I need to sign a contract with a bus company for one year, but I can't do that until the ministry commits to provide funding for the remainder of the year, which they haven't yet done."
The government, he said, "must decide whether they want to place these kids in regular schools in Mitzpeh Ramon and Arad, whether they want to open special Hebrew Israelite schools or whether they want to continue sending the children to Dimona."
The Education Ministry said in response: "In October, the ministry transferred an advance payment of NIS 40,000 for the transportation of the Hebrew Israelite children who live in Mitzpeh Ramon and Arad to the school in Dimona. That said, the ministry is readying itself to fund the transportation for the entire current school year. There is nothing preventing the transportation from having already begun in October, when the advance from the ministry was received."