Teachers and students working in Kfar Sava hospital have been asked not to speak Arabic to their students and amongst the staff themselves. Despite Arabic being one of Israel’s official languages it has been reported that some Arab families who had children receiving treatment filed a complaint with hospital management when their teachers were asked to stop speaking in Arabic to one anotherTeachers and students working in Kfar Sava hospital have been asked not to speak Arabic to their students and amongst the staff themselves. Despite Arabic being one of Israel’s official languages it has been reported that some Arab families who had children receiving treatment filed a complaint with hospital management when their teachers were asked to stop speaking in Arabic to one another,.
Within the hospital an education department is operated through the Ministry of Education. Here children aged 3-17 yrs old partake in lessons if their illness permits, this it is hoped lessons the impact of missing on regular school for the children.
One teacher sometimes assisted by a student give the Arabic children lessons but recently when the assistant queried something form the Arabic teacher the department supervisor ordered them to stop speaking in their mother tongue saying “we don’t speak Arabic among the staff here”
When an explanation was sought form the supervisors and the hospital referred those families to the Ministry of Education saying that the hospital had no say in teaching content.
The Education Ministry insists there was no instruction forbidding teachers to discuss things in Arabic and said the allegations were untrue. Every Arabic-speaking child receives treatment and lessons from Arab teachers, according to his needs, ministry officials said.
The Mossawa Center equal rights advocacy group has demanded explanations from the hospital, noting that Arabic is an official language of Israel. The center’s attorney, Sameh Iraqi, said the supervising teacher’s conduct and alleged ministry instructions are racist and forbidden by law. The center also asked who was responsible for such instructions and demanded that person be reprimanded and punished.
‘In view of the racist atmosphere prevailing in Israeli society lately, Mossawa’s legal department is making efforts to monitor racist incidents in state and public institutions,’ Iraqi wrote.
A recent report from the Mossawa Centre showed that state and public institutions are the most racist institutions in the country and the worst discrimination is against members of the Arab community.
‘We’ll continue to fight racism both locally and globally in legal and public measures,’ Iraqi said.
