The rally
Photo: Gil Yohanan
'Our kids can’t live with Arabs’
Dozens of parents protest plan to move hostel for disabled children to Arab neighborhood
Dozens of parents and their disabled children protested Thursday opposite the Welfare Ministry in Jerusalem over plans to house their children in a hostel located in an Arab neighborhood.
The parents say the Beit Tsafafa neighborhood is incommensurate with their children’s needs. They point to the fact that the area does not have a YMCA that offers Hebrew-language courses, that there is no synagogue in the neighborhood, and that public transportation is poor.
“Even people without disabilities would have trouble truly integrating into a neighborhood that is so different from their way of life,” the campaign headquarters said in a statement.
The rally (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Hani Levi, a mother of two mentally disabled girls, told Ynet that her qualms have nothing to do with bias or racism.
“My daughters have trouble integrating into any society because of their retardation – it makes it difficult for them to communicate in Hebrew, and now the Welfare Ministry wants to place them within Arab society?” she said.
However, welfare officials have dismissed the parents, claiming that their argument is racist.
The Welfare Ministry issued the following statement: “The tender was won by an experienced candidate that offered a proper building in a mixed neighborhood that constitutes a part of Jerusalem. All its residents are citizens of the state and speak Hebrew….We fail to understand how a movement committed to equality acts in such racist manner.”
