RFS_Br
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2012
- Messages
- 1,237
- Reaction score
- 0
- Country
- Location
Arab sixth-graders: Passengers on Jerusalem bus harassed us
At least three passengers on a public bus in Jerusalem harassed a group of Arab sixth-graders on their way home from school this week, with one woman calling them monkeys, issuing death threats, and hitting one of the girls and pulling her hair, according to the girl's father.
Ayub, the father, said his daughter has grown accustomed to verbal abuse while passing through Jewish neighborhoods, but that this was the first time she was physically assaulted. He said only one passenger came to the childrens defense and asked the woman to desist.
Jerusalem police confirmed the outlines of the allegations Thursday. They said they have questioned the woman accused of hitting the girl but are awaiting a formal complaint before taking further action.
Parents of the 10 schoolchildren who say they were harassed are planning to file a police complaint, according to a member of the parents committee at the Hand in Hand Max Rayne Bilingual School, the Jewish-Arab school they attend in the capital.
Adults who dare attack children on a bus should be brought to trial and severely punished, said Paz Cohen, who heads the school's parents association. The police should track down the perpetrators and bring the full force of the law to bear on them. Without follow-through, these incidents will be legitimized and the violence will only escalate.
The incident took place at the end of the school day Sunday, as the group of Arab students rode a bus headed for the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev. It began, sources said, when two passengers hurled racial epithets at the students. One spat his chewing gum at them.
When those passengers got off the bus, a woman called the students monkeys, said they should be ashamed of being human [WTF? Does that even make sense? -- RFS] and told them they have no right to live, the students reported to the school administration. They said she also threatened to send people to kill them.
The children told the administration the bus driver refused their request to intervene, and stopped the bus only after the woman began hitting one of the girls and pulling her hair.
The driver called the police when the woman refused to get off the bus, and police detained her for questioning.
Obviously we are shaken by the incident," Nadia Kinani and Anat Zidon, the principals of the Hand in Hand elementary school and junior high school, wrote in a letter to the head of the education department at the Jerusalem municipality. "But at the same time, we are fortified in our faith in the path we have chosen, and we are using the incident to highlight the value of tolerance and equality that we try to instil in our students.
At least three passengers on a public bus in Jerusalem harassed a group of Arab sixth-graders on their way home from school this week, with one woman calling them monkeys, issuing death threats, and hitting one of the girls and pulling her hair, according to the girl's father.
Ayub, the father, said his daughter has grown accustomed to verbal abuse while passing through Jewish neighborhoods, but that this was the first time she was physically assaulted. He said only one passenger came to the childrens defense and asked the woman to desist.
Jerusalem police confirmed the outlines of the allegations Thursday. They said they have questioned the woman accused of hitting the girl but are awaiting a formal complaint before taking further action.
Parents of the 10 schoolchildren who say they were harassed are planning to file a police complaint, according to a member of the parents committee at the Hand in Hand Max Rayne Bilingual School, the Jewish-Arab school they attend in the capital.
Adults who dare attack children on a bus should be brought to trial and severely punished, said Paz Cohen, who heads the school's parents association. The police should track down the perpetrators and bring the full force of the law to bear on them. Without follow-through, these incidents will be legitimized and the violence will only escalate.
The incident took place at the end of the school day Sunday, as the group of Arab students rode a bus headed for the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev. It began, sources said, when two passengers hurled racial epithets at the students. One spat his chewing gum at them.
When those passengers got off the bus, a woman called the students monkeys, said they should be ashamed of being human [WTF? Does that even make sense? -- RFS] and told them they have no right to live, the students reported to the school administration. They said she also threatened to send people to kill them.
The children told the administration the bus driver refused their request to intervene, and stopped the bus only after the woman began hitting one of the girls and pulling her hair.
The driver called the police when the woman refused to get off the bus, and police detained her for questioning.
Obviously we are shaken by the incident," Nadia Kinani and Anat Zidon, the principals of the Hand in Hand elementary school and junior high school, wrote in a letter to the head of the education department at the Jerusalem municipality. "But at the same time, we are fortified in our faith in the path we have chosen, and we are using the incident to highlight the value of tolerance and equality that we try to instil in our students.
