Orthodox School Evicted in Flashpoint Beit Shemesh
A haredi Orthodox girls school that began operating on one floor of secular school in Beit Shemesh must vacate the building.
Under an agreement struck with the Jerusalem District Court, the Mishekenot Da’at school will move out of the second floor of the of the secular Safot VeTarbuyot school and operate out of mobile classrooms placed in the school yard.
The 110 haredi students must be out of the e school building by Nov. 10, and all barriers and dividers must be taken down, the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
The court called on the ministry and the city of Beit Shemesh to “conduct negotiations in order to reach a comprehensive, long term solution for the housing of all educational institutions in the city as soon as the coming academic year, including Mishkenot Daat and Safot Ve’tarbuyot.”
The presence of the haredi school and the erection of barriers between the students of the two schools in both the school yard and in the building itself, sparked protests by the secular school’s parents and by secular city lawmakers.
The city of Beit Shemesh has been a flashpoint for conflicts between haredi and secular residents over the role of religion in the public sphere.
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