The lesson by the Arab teacher sparked a storm in Or Akiva - and the school was shut down

Parents at the 'Shirat HaYam' elementary school in Or Akiva suspended classes for two hours in protest of a lesson given by an Arab teacher in third grade. According to them, the teacher asked who hates Arabs and asked those who answered positively to explain their stance at the board. Education officials said the conversation began following an offensive comment by a student, and that a pedagogical error in judgment was found, but the incident differs from what was described.

Parents at the 'Shirat HaYam' elementary school in Or Akiva suspended classes this morning (Thursday) for two hours in protest of a lesson given by an Arab teacher in third grade. According to the parents, the teacher asked the students who among them 'hates Arabs', and asked those who answered positively to stand by the board and explain their stance. They further claimed that the conversation developed into a discussion of terrorists, harm to Jews, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The teacher told the students about being Arab and Muslim, and spoke with them about Islam and Arab society in Israel. Afterwards, she showed pictures of her family and explained about coexistence in the country. The school principal, Ayelet Shahar, updated that the matter is under investigation. Education officials explained that the conversation began following an offensive comment by one of the students about Arabs, and that the investigation revealed the incident is completely different from what was described in the complaint. Alongside this, they noted that a pedagogical error in judgment was found in the way the conversation was managed, and that the error was handled immediately by the administration.