Israel's Christian Schools Striking Over Slashing of Funding
JERUSALEM — About 2,500 striking demonstrators gathered Sunday outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, police said, to protest against the slashing of funds for Christian schools.
Christian school administrators accuse Israel of cutting their funding as a tactic to pressure them to join the Israeli public school system — a move they say would interfere with the schools’ Christian values and high academic achievements.
The vast majority of Israel’s Christians are of Arab descent, and Arab lawmakers joined students, parents and principals at Sunday’s demonstration, waving flags and holding banners with slogans such as “Christian schools are not for sale.”
Some 33,000 students in 47 schools have been on strike since the school year began on Sept. 1. Protesters complain that Israel continues to fully fund large private school networks that cater to ultra-Orthodox Jews while it slashes the Christians’ budget.
Source: www.nytimes.com