Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said on Sunday that no legal steps would be taken against the Superland theme park, after it was revealed that the park had a practice of having Jewish schools and Arab schools visit on separate days.
Weinstein, whose decision was backed by State Attorney Moshe Lador, said that he decided not to take action against Superland “given the public apology by the park’s management and its declaration that it intends to cease its discriminatory policy.”
The story began when a teacher at an Arab school in Yafo (Jaffa), who planned to bring a group to the amusement park, was told that the day they wanted to visit was a “Jews only” day, and that he needed to schedule the visit for a day that Arab youth were admitted, as the park reserved separate days for each group.
The teacher said that there had been no problem until he told park officials that he taught in a school in Yafo, and that at that point he was given a “runaround”, until the true reason for the reluctance of park officials to take his reservation was revealed.
The story caused an uproar, with MK Amram Mitzna (Hatnua) convening a special meeting of the Knesset’s Education Committee and telling Superland it had no excuse for the separate days.
“We do not have to mention that racism is like a cancer, a very dangerous phenomenon that hurts society,” Mitzna said, adding that the problem was not just at Superland, but at many institutions in Israel where Arabs were not wanted because they were Arabs.
Representatives of Superland explained that they were not racists and that the fact that there were separate days for students from Arab and Jewish schools at the park was meant to prevent friction between student groups. They noted that the requests for separate days for Jewish and Arab schools were made by schools from both sectors.
Arutz Sheva spoke to parents of children who visited Superland over the past year and who said that the Arab children and youths in the park have a habit of provoking fights with the Jewish kids. The parents added that the Arabs behave similarly in other parks in Israel.