News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Religious Zionist high school students are up in arms over a question in a matriculation (bagrut) exam that asks, "What rights do settlers violate by blocking streets?" The question is based on a court ruling three months ago against two brothers who, three years ago, intended to block traffic to protest the government expulsion plan. They planned to place a car on the Ayalon highway, and then set it aflame.

Students taking the exam were told to "note and explain what civil rights are liable to be violated, in the court's opinion." Chaim Prince, education director at the religious Zionist high school for girls in Arad, told the Hebrew newspaper Maariv that the question is politically oriented.

Prince noted that blocking roads is a protest tactic used by university students and factory workers. He asked, "Why did they use this example?" One of the students who took the exam is the niece of the two brothers whose protest action was cited in the example given on the test. The Education Ministry, head by Yuli Tamir (Labor), responded, "We are sorry if the students were offended...but there is no question of this sort that would not offend a sector of society."