RAMLE, Israel (AP) – It was an unlikely display of protesters: nuns cloaked in white, a black-clad priest clutching a golden scepter and dozens of Arab schoolchildren picketing outside the hulking headquarters of Israel’s Education Ministry. Their message, raised high on large banners: “Take your hands off our schools.”
Private Christian schools are among Israel’s highest ranked educational institutions, established by churches in the Holy Land hundreds of years ago – long before Israel was established. But school administrators are accusing Israel of slashing their funding as a pressure tactic to get them join the Israeli public school system – a move they say would interfere with the schools’ Christian values and high academic achievements.
They are also complaining of discrimination, since as Israel moves to cut money to Christian schools it continues to fully fund large private school networks that cater to ultra-Orthodox Jews.
“Even if we are a minority, we have an ancient message,” said Father Abdel Masih Fahim of the Franciscan Catholic order and principal of the Terra Santa School in the central town of Ramle. “We want to be treated equally, not only in education but also in every other aspect of life.”
It is the latest sign of trouble for Christians in the Holy Land. In the birthplace of Christianity, Christians are a tiny minority, making up less than 2 percent of the population of Israel and the Palestinian territories. There are about 150,000 Christian citizens of Israel and about 50,000 Christians spread out in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.