Three Deaths Later: Government to Improve Roads to Bedouin Schools in Response to SHATIL Campaign
September 22, 2009
Last week , the Israeli government made a pledge to the Supreme Court to allocate NIS 70 million ($18.7 million) for paving and improving the infrastructure of roads leading to schools in eight recognized and five unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev. The government decision was made after extensive lobbying and repeated petitions to Israel's Supreme Court by the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) on behalf of the SHATIL-led Umbrella Forum for Arab Education in the Negev and Bimkom, along with a separate petition by Adalah. The work is to be completed by 2013. Read>
Women Protest Gender-Segregated Buses
September 8, 2009
Dr. Zvia Greenfeld fears that the recent introduction of gender segregated buses in Israel is just the tip of the iceberg. She said, "Ultra-Orthodox society already restricts the role of women in the family and community. Now they want to restrict women in public places starting with buses. This is a dreadful problem and it must be stopped." Read>
Happiness is a Cooler Planet: Bill McKibben Speaks to Negev Activists
September 8, 2009
On September 7, 70 activists, architects, government officials and others from all walks of life in the Negev gathered for an event with world-renowned environmental activist Bill McKibben. McKibben is an author and founder of "350", a global movement to reduce carbon emissions. Read>
SHATIL's Back from the Edge Project for Immigrant Youth at Risk: Strengthening the Weak, Boosting the Strong
September 8, 2009
Back from the Edge is a multi-faceted SHATIL program that works to strengthen immigrant youth-at-risk. The following story is from one Be'er Sheva school in the last academic year: The Life Skills lesson for the day: "Sexual Relations at What Price?" The class: a 10th grade "Challenge" class, the lowest of the three levels in the Tuviahu School in Be'er Sheva. As you might expect, the class full of the school's most troubled students are having a field day with this subject. Read>
Schools Pressured Into Accepting Ethiopian Immigrants
September 1, 2009
Three private Orthodox schools in the city of Petach Tikvah backed down and agreed to accept Ethiopian immigrant students after the government threatened to cut off their funding. More than 100 Ethiopian immigrant students were originally rejected by the schools, which did not offer excuse or apology for their racist admission policies. Read>
Exposing the Inequalities in Israeli Arab Schools
September 1, 2009
Dr. Hala Espanioly, Chairman of NIF grantee Follow-Up Committee for Arab Education said that the discrimination against Ethiopian Israelis highlights the need for equality and pluralism in Israel's education system. Read>
