Arab Education Issues Follow-up Committee Rejects Law Preventing Employment of Palestinian University Graduates

SadaNews - The Arab Education Issues Follow-up Committee has strongly rejected, on Thursday, the Knesset's approval of the second and third readings of a law that prevents the employment of Palestinian university graduates in the education system within the country and East Jerusalem, deeming it a racist law that violates fundamental rights and constitutes blatant national discrimination against Arab academics.

The committee clarified that the new law prohibits the employment of anyone holding an academic degree from a higher education institution in the Palestinian Authority in educational positions, which includes working as a teacher, school principal, or inspector, and treats graduates of Palestinian universities as if they do not hold a recognized academic qualification for teaching purposes.

The committee affirmed that this legislation, initiated by Knesset members from the ruling coalition and marketed under the pretext of preventing "harmful influence on students," severely undermines the right to academic education, freedom of employment, and the right to equality, specifically targeting Arab academics irrespective of their professional competence or practical experience.

It added that the motivations behind the law and its provisions, especially the accusations directed at Palestinian academic institutions regarding incitement and failure to adhere to educational values, reveal its inciting and political nature, confirming that it is not based on any objective academic or professional assessment, but rather on ideological and racist generalizations that affect an entire community based on national grounds.

Regarding the exception included in the law, which allows the Director General of the Ministry of Education to employ a holder of a degree from a Palestinian university only if they also hold a bachelor's degree from an Israeli institution and a teaching certificate from within the country, the committee emphasized that this exception does not mitigate the seriousness of the law; rather, it deepens the exclusionary logic and turns the right to work into a privilege conditioned upon vague administrative discretion.

The Arab Education Issues Follow-up Committee warned of the serious consequences of the law on the education system in the Arab community, considering it a direct threat to its stability and the quality of education, and part of a systematic policy aimed at tracking Arab students and teachers, politicizing the education system, imposing ideological control over knowledge, and entrenching exclusion and discrimination based on nationality.

In this context, the committee announced that it is studying, in collaboration with human rights institutions and associations, to take immediate legal action, including submitting an urgent petition to the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutionality of the law and demand its annulment.

The committee concluded its statement by affirming that it will continue its professional and legal struggle in defense of the rights of Arab teachers and the right of students to a professional, fair, and equal education, and will remain vigilant and confrontational against any legislation or procedure that affects the education system in the Arab community or threatens its status and role.

Source: Arabs 48