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Labor MK Ophir Pines-Paz. (Nir Keidar)
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Last update - 00:00 04/12/2007
Pines-Paz: Ethiopians must be allowed a secular education
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Ophir Pines-Paz 

The chairman of the Knesset's Interior and Environment Committee, MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor), initiated a bill Tuesday to facilitate secular school education for children from the Ethiopian sector in order to help them better assimilate into Israeli society.

Ethiopian children are not legally required to study at religious schools, but because of the Rabbinate's strict conversion requirements, the majority is educated in the government's religious schools.

"This has greatly harmed the group's integration into the entire society, and has left them a coerced religious sector," said Pines-Paz.
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"No ethnic group or immigrant group is required to study in one system. We need to stop to discriminate against the Ethiopian sector and to endlessly find faults with their Jewishness," he said.

This week, an incident of discrimination against Ethiopian students was revealed at a state religious school in Petah Tikva, which further encouraged Pines-Paz to alter what he called an historic error. "Although it is very late, the time has come to redeem the sector from the isolation that was forced upon it," he said.

The bill also includes legislation stipulated that any institution that receives governmental funding and works with Ethiopian children will treat each student equally both in the religious and secular school systems. This would obligate both the Chief Rabbinate and the rabbinical courts.

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      1.   WRONG! 1ST JEWISH CHILDREN MUST HAVE A JEWISH EDUCATION IN ISRAEL 20:07  |  David 04/12/07
      2.   I agree, David #1 22:28  |  Polybios 04/12/07
      3.   yes, lets have more violence, drug abuse etc. 22:30  |  marbpl 04/12/07
      4.   OH, THE BIG HERO PENIS PAZ IS GOING TO "REDEEM" THE ETHIOPIANS 22:32  |  Jew 04/12/07
      5.   Polybios 22:42  |  Danite 04/12/07
      6.   Labor put religious Yemenite children in secular schools 22:54  |  Mark 04/12/07
      7.   Calm down, Danite 23:30  |  Polybios 04/12/07
      8.   what was the point of bringing them to Israel 23:31  |  Gisele 04/12/07
      9.   Hey Pines, 80% of Israelis are no longer secular 00:03  |  Ace 05/12/07
      10.   Of course, we can always count on the post-zionists such as 00:13  |  common sense 05/12/07
      11.   Jewish Schools, YES - Haredi Madrasas, NO 01:04  |  b`galil 05/12/07
      12.   Beta Ezrael in secular schools 02:50  |  Ploni 05/12/07
      13.   "regular public schools" 16:59  |  marbpl 05/12/07
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