The Ministry of Education is crushing Israel's dark-skinned students.
Eli Sa'adon

In the wake of news reports of an Ashdod principal's violence toward Ethiopian students, the Knesset held a discussion in which Education Minister Limor Livnat said the following: "Ministry of Education regulations do not allow Ethiopian students to constitute more than 50% of any school enrollment. The regulation is intended as a way of preventing the formation of cliques. The father of one student, whose application was rejected because the school had already reached its 50% quota of Ethiopians, petitioned the High Court of Justice. The Court ruled that we must not place any limitation on the number of [Ethiopian] school students, essentially legitimizing [open enrollment]… I have no way of coping with this. The Court decision is, in my view, truly mistaken and may very well lead to the formation of Ethiopian cliques at school. This, naturally, will do nothing to promote them, but will only restrict the ability to promote them".

The minister's words are just another attempt to avoid taking responsibility for the unsuccessful and racist treatment of Ethiopian immigrants. As the attorney for the parents and the child who filed their High Court petition, I would like to clarify the facts.

First, the court made no ruling as a result of the petition; it gave the Ministry of Education 45 days to respond. On the 46th day, the ministry announced that it was canceling the policy against which the petition was directed. It was clear to the ministry that the policy was invalid and discriminatory, and it was therefore not worth defending. But the key question is if the ministry's regulation that schools be allowed to enroll a maximum of 20-25% Ethiopian students (and not 50% as the minister claimed) is feasible, Isn't it horribly racist to set a policy making Ethiopian origin the only test for acceptance to a school?

The following story behind the petition shows how far the ministry has gone in defending its policy. Zahavit immigrated to Israel with her family 20 years ago, when she was 11. Natan immigrated with his family 19 years ago, when he was 19. A few years ago, they met and got married. Zahavit continued her studies, and today she is a registered nurse at a hospital. Natan continued his studies, and today he has a supervisory job in a factory. They had children and their future looked rosy. A story of successful Israeli immigration and absorption? Not by the Ministry of Education’s definition. When the parents came to enroll their son in first grade, it turned out he wasn't an Israeli like his friends. He was an "Ethiopian". An Ethiopian child cannot study in every school.

Ethiopian children are enrolled according to a quota set by the Ministry of Education. The child was rejected. The parents appealed, in vain, to the director-general of the ministry. This is the policy the minister finds so hard to give up and is trying to anchor with legal backing. The policy is based on the assumption that all Ethiopian children are "weak" and must therefore be viewed only from the standpoint of ethnic origin. This is an arrogant and racist view that is totally divorced from reality.

Rather than hold onto this discriminatory policy, we must distinguish between regular and "weak" students (who are eligible for support based on clear criteria), and not categorize them by ethnic origin or the color of their skin. Enrollment must be determined by encouraging students and their families and by ensuring that schools accept any student who applies. This policy, if followed and enforced, will ensure a natural distribution of "weak" students on the enrollment rosters. Any attempt to block a student from enrolling on the basis of ethnic origin or skin color is outright racism and cannot be tolerated, even if it is coated in flowery educational jargon.

The writer is an attorney.