Religious teachers will boycott a nationwide gathering
organized by the Education Ministry for teachers and other
professionals working with visually impaired children. The
convention is slated to take place in a non-kosher hotel in
Nazareth.
Two weeks ago teachers received invitations to the
convention, coordinated by the Education Ministry and the
Israeli Center for the Blind in conjunction with the Israeli
chapter of the Lions international organization. Among the
speakers on the agenda are Education Minster Yossi Sarid and
Arabs, who will discuss the bridge between Israeli and Arab
cultures.
Religious teachers were surprised to discover that the
convention is to take place in Nazareth's non-kosher Howard
Johnson Hotel. Teachers contacted the city mayor who said
that there are many kosher hotels in Nazareth but that this
particular hotel lacks rabbinical supervision.
Religious teachers and professionals who were supposed to
participate in the day-long seminar have joined together to
boycott the seminar and to protest the fact that the
Education Ministry chose a non-kosher hotel. For years, all
Education Ministry meetings have been held in kosher hotels.
The teachers question why the policy has changed since Yossi
Sarid gained control of the Education Ministry.
Education Ministry Spokesperson Rivka Shraga said that she
has no doubt that the reservation was made by mistake. She
added that the policy of the Education Ministry as well as
its head is to hold meetings in locations where all teachers
are able to attend. "The Education Ministry doesn't check to
see how each employee behaves at home," she added, "but
surely all teachers should be able to participate in
government-sponsored meetings. Meetings should be held in a
kosher places." She added that the Ministry would investigate
how the error occurred.
Knesset member Rabbi Moshe Gafni said that if the Education
Ministry does not transfer the convention to a kosher hotel
he will ask the gedolei Yisroel whether a no-
confidence motion should be presented. This offense joins a
series of others committed by the Education Minister: his
unprovoked public statement that he works on Shabbos; the
award of the Israel Prize to Shulamit Aloni; and the
inclusion of the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish in the school
curriculum. UTJ voiced its lack of confidence in the
Government on the last issue at the instructions of
gedolei haTorah.
