Parents of primary and secondary school students in the southern city of Ashkelon decided to keep their children home Tuesday. The strike was called to protest what the parents say is insufficient fortification protecting the city's educational institutions from Palestinian Authority terrorist rocket attacks.
The strike was decided upon after a Grad Katyusha fired by PA terrorists from Gaza slammed into the heart of an Ashkelon school on Saturday. Because it was the weekend, there were no students in the building and no injuries were reported; however, the attack penetrated the school's existing counter-missile fortification and caused great damage.
The city-wide Parents Committee initiated the strike in most of the city's educational facilities on Monday demanding better protection for the school buildings. Excluded from the initiative were grades 10-12, whose students are studying for the Bagrut high school graduation exams, and special education. Despite the call for a boycott, about half of the students went to school on the first day of the strike.
The strike was extended Tuesday to include the high school juniors and seniors, as well as special education classes after a Kassam rocket launched by terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza landed on the southern outskirts of Ashkelon on Monday night. No injuries were reported in that attack.
The Parents Committee announced the opening of a bank account for private donations to protect the schools. According to Yinon Jibli, the Parents Committee chairman, the strike will continue as long as the government does not take steps to at least protect those Ashkelon schools that remain without any fortification.
The municipal authorities remain opposed to the school strike. Schools and kindergartens remain open, and the staff are required to be present for work as usual. In an interview as he toured his damaged institution, the principal of the school that suffered a direct hit on Saturday commented that fortification is not the answer.