Adalah Petitions the Supreme Court Demanding Preschool Education for the Naqab Villages of Zaa'rura and Bir al-Mashash

On 1 June 2004, Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages in the Naqab (Negev), the Union of Students' Affairs in the Naqab, the High Follow-up Committee for Educational Affairs, the Cultural Society of the Naqab, the Regional Union of Arab Affairs in Israel, and 43 children from the two unrecognized Arab Bedouin villages of Zaa'rura and Bir al-Mashash. The petition filed against the Ministry of Education (MOE) demands that preschools be established in the two villages, for approximately 360 children between three and four years of age, in accordance with Amendment 16 to Compulsory Education Law - 1984. At present, there is no preschool in either village for children of this age group, in spite of the fact that 232 children live in Zaa'rura, and 74 in Bir al-Mashash.

Adalah submitted a petition on the same subject in April 2003, yet in May 2003, the Knesset decided to freeze the gradual implementation of MOE directives, which specify towns and villages in which preschools are to be established, thereby precluding the establishment of preschools in Zaa'rura and Bir al-Mashash. During a September 2003 Supreme Court hearing of the 2003 petition, the Attorney General informed the Court that he had decided to extend the period of Amendment 16's gradual implementation until 2008. The Supreme Court indicated that, despite the Knesset's decision, the principle of equality nonetheless obligates the MOE to set up preschools in the two villages in the event that preschools are established in other areas. The Supreme Court also agreed to Adalah's request that when the Knesset's decision is cancelled, the two villages should be prioritized. Thus, if it subsequently became apparent that the government was continuing to establish preschools, despite the freezing order, a further petition could be submitted.

Adalah has been monitoring this issue since September 2003, and has since learned that the MOE has established six preschools in other towns, in spite of the Supreme Court's previous comments. In its response to motions filed by Adalah, the MOE defended its failure to set up preschools in the unrecognized villages by claiming that the Interior Ministry had refused to issue building permits in unrecognized villages. In January 2004, however, the Regional Council for Building and Planning issued permits for the construction of mobile buildings in 16 schools in unrecognized villages, which Adalah Staff Attorney Morad el-Sana claimed in the petition "invalidates the MOE's excuse for not opening kindergartens in Zaa'rura and Bir al-Mashash."

In the petition submitted on 1 June 2004, Adalah staff attorney Morad el-Sana contended that the purpose of the Compulsory Education Law is to provide education for underprivileged groups, in order to narrow the gap between them and the rest of society, and to assist those unable to send their children to private preschools. Adalah further argued in the petition that the current situation infringes upon the rights of the children of Zaa'rura and Bir al-Mashash to equal educational opportunities, and to the same educational resources as other children in the country. Moreover, Adalah argued that the MOE's defense of insufficient funding does not take precedence over the rights of the children to education, and equality with other children in the country.

H.C. 5108/04, Ismail Mohammed Abu-Guda, et. al, v. Limor Livnat, Minister of Education, et. al.