Israeli Preschool Ordered Closed After Segregating Ethiopian Children
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli kindergarten was ordered closed after segregating students by race.
The children of Ethiopian descent in the southern town of Kiryat Gat met in an auxiliary room with a separate entrance, The Times of Israel reported.
They were spread out to kindergartens and day cares throughout the town, with transportation provided by the municipality.
Officials discovered the issue after a parent of Ethiopian descent posted on Facebook on the first day of school that she and her 3-year-old daughter were directed to a classroom of exclusively Ethiopian-Israeli children. She immediately left with her daughter and went to the municipal hall to complain.
“Because of the color of their skin they cannot mix with other children,” wrote the mother, Sefy Bililin. “My daughter is worth as much as anyone else.”
“She was born here,” the mother said, “and she is as good as anyone.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30