Field trip (Illustration)
Photo: Roee Simon
Petition: Provide security to Arab students
Shfaram family files petition against Education Ministry's decision to halt armed escorts of field trips in Arab sector. 'The dangers Arab students are exposed to are equal to those threatening Jewish and Druze students,' say plaintiffs
An Arab family from the northern Israeli city of Shfaram filed a petition asking the court to overturn an Education Ministry decision to cease armed escorts of field trips in the Arab sector.
According to the petition, filed with the Haifa District Court, the decision "reeks of racial and ethnic discrimination."
The petition was filed by Attorney Suleiman Amer on behalf of Khaled and Nariman Safuri and their three daughters, who attend a local Shfaram junior high school.
According to court documents, an Education Ministry's security office memorandum, released in early February, stated that "educational facilities and youth movement activities in the Arab sector no longer require a mandatory armed escort on field trips".
The petition further states that the order does not apply to the Druze sector nor to the mixed-community educational facilities, the likes of which can be found in Haifa.
Amer further claimed that neither the Arab mayors in the area, nor the schools' principals, were consulted in the matter:
"A decision categorically denying such escorts form the Arab schools alone is discriminatory… The fact that the school trips are those of Arab students does not make it safer and does not mean they do not need protection.
"The (armed) escort's duty is to protect the students against assailants, guide them through any emergency, thwart terror attacks on the group, keep them away from suspicious objects and do all that is necessary to keep them safe," added the petition.
"The dangers Arab students are exposed to are equal to those threatening Jewish and Druze students. The terror groups do not differentiate between populations."
The Education Ministry offered the following statement: "The subject of students' safety is the responsibility of the Israeli Police and the ministry adheres to their orders. Nevertheless, the police have deemed armed escorts unnecessary in many areas and in all sectors. The ministry now awaits the court's decision on the matter."
