No Place for Discrimination

We were happy to read in Haaretz.com the article by Or Kashti on the decision regarding cancellation of the racist separation in the kindergartens in Netanya. Through our Community Engagement Program, the African Refugee Development Center saw the difficulties of the community in Netanya and learned about the special challenges that the municipality is causing. For many months, children of asylum seekers in the city did not come to the gardens because of their parents' protest against the racial separation between them and other children. We were shocked to discover that even in 2019 such discrimination, resembling distant countries and other times, has been continuing, uninterrupted for months. Again and again we are amazed to discover how practices that were used against us as Jews are now used by against such a vulnerable community. The District Court has recently unequivocally determined the obvious - there is no place for discrimination on the ground of race and skin color in the Israeli education system. We are celebrating the achievement of the community and look forward to the return of the children to the integrated education system, after months in which they were denied education. It is important for us to emphasize not only the immorality of racial segregation, but also the advantages of integration, which allows children to overcome cultural barriers and feel comfortable where they live.