MK Zoabi: Let Arab students speak in mother tongue.
During heated Knesset debate over Jaffa principal's decision to prohibit Arab students from speaking Arabic in classrooms, Arab MK says education system at fault 'for not teaching Arabic over past 60 years.' Rivlin: Anti-Israel propaganda
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and MK Hanin Zoabi (National Democratic Assembly) got into a heated argument Wednesday on whether Arab students should be permitted to peak Arabic in school.
Rivlin said Zoabi, who supports the students' right to speak Arabic in school, "wants to conduct propaganda," adding that "there's a limit to how tolerant we can be in allowing the Knesset to become a stage used against the State of Israel."
Zoabi said, "This is the fault of the Israeli education system, which did not teach Arabic, our language, for the past 60 years.
During Wednesday's debate, a number of Arab MKs claimed the education system was discriminating against Arabs.
Turning to Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Zoabi said, "I ask that you issue a clear guideline so that school principals will not act in this manner in the future. Students must be allowed to speak in their mother tongue –Arabic."
Rivlin replied: "As a Jew, I regret the fact that we speak English and French but not the language of the people we live with – Arabic. But there are those who speak of coexistence, and there are others who make every effort to prevent coexistence."
MK Ronit Tirosh (Kadima) said that while working as an Arabic teacher and during her time as director general of the Education Ministry she "encouraged the teaching of the Arabic language in all classes and all age groups.
"The school in Jaffa should be commended for integrating Jewish and Arab populations – where one learns from the other. The official language in Israeli schools is Hebrew, and therefore it makes no sense to hold classroom discussions in Arabic," she said.
Sa'ar said the Education Ministry checked the Jaffa residents' claims and found them to be unjustified. "Hurting a school which promotes coexistence cannot encourage coexistence," he added.
