The teacher with Education Minister Bennett
The teacher with Education Minister BennettScreenshot

Jacqueline, an Arab Muslim teacher from Sakhnin in the Galilee, has faced threats and abuse from her colleagues in the Israeli Arab sector since she posted a photograph of herself with Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) on her Facebook page.

Jacqueline met with Minister Bennett to speak with him about managerial problems in the Arab sector of the Ministry of Education. The meeting was photographed and the picture was posted to her Facebook page.

Jacqueline has been subjected to a torrent of insults and threats since posting the picture. "They are threatening me and telling me that I am 'going with the Jews', with the Likud or with the Jewish Home [political parties]," she said.

She said that her brother-in-law came and told her husband that she was responsible for whatever happens to her. She has received further threats on social media from other teachers.

"These are teachers in the school system," she said of her attackers. "They educate our children, and I feel that there is a danger to our children. I want to live here in peace and not with violence."

Jacqueline filed a complaint with the police over the harassment against her, but as of now, the complaint has not been addressed. She said that she intends to contact the Education Minister to ask him to help teachers who are threatened.

According to Jacqueline, "the new generation identifies with the state, but is afraid to say so. The extremists silence us."