A family from the Israeli Arab city of Shfaram filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Ministry of Education. The group is demanding that the ministry rescind an order according to which only Jewish schools are required to provide armed guards on school trips.
The decision to force Jewish schools to hire armed guards was made following terrorist attacks on Jewish students in class and on school trips.
In their appeal against the protocol, the Safouri family said, “A stench of racist and ethnic discrimination wafts from the decision.” The decision was made without consultation with Arab principals or community leaders, the family said.
"Arab students are exposed to exactly the same dangers that Jewish and Druze students are exposed to,” the family's lawyer argued. “Terrorists don't differentiate between the various sectors of society.”
The petition brought a 2005 attack in Shfaram as evidence that Arabs and Jews are equally at risk of coming under attack. In 2005, 19-year-old Eden Natan-Zada opened fire on a bus, killing four. He was then beaten to death by an angry mob.
Education Ministry officials said their decision was made based on the Israel Police assessment of danger in various areas. Schools in many regions are not required to provide armed guards whether or not students are Arabs, they added.