Over the weekend, I posted a diary about the teachers at a Mar Elias related school being unpaid by the Government of Israel since June. The United Methodist liaison, Janet Lahr Lewis, who made the initial appeal reports that many of the early faxes did not get through:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Monday, 2 November 2009
Dear friends,
Many of you have written that you were unable to get faxes to go through to the Ministry of Education office in support of Mar Elias Educational institutions. (See letter below)
The fax number that I listed was correct: 972 2 560 2223, but here is an alternative one for the Director General: 972 2 560 2336 For those dialing from the US you will need to dial 011 first to get outside the US, then continue with the 972 country code for Israel. Don’t forget the double 2’s.
If faxing is not an option for your you can send emails to both the Economics and Budgeting office and the Haifa office. takziv@education.gov.il ; machoz-haifa@education.gov.il
but this will not have the same effect as contacting the Director General by fax (whose email is not listed for obvious reasons!) If you still have problems you can find the lists at their website http://www.education.gov.il/... and just email everyone on the list. Maybe someone will pay attention!
Thank you to all those who responded to this urgent request. I spoke with Archbishop Chacour this morning for an update and he informed me that the school has still not received any funds "as promised."
Once again I urge you to send the attached letter of appeal which was co-written by me and Bp. Chacour to the Ministry of Education and protest this continuing abuse of power. As the bishop says, "They are treating us like slaves!"
Many thanks for your support,
Janet Lahr Lewis
United Methodist Liaison in Israel and Palestine
The Director of the Pilgrims of Ibillin, an American group that supports the work of Elias Chacour and the Mar Elias Educational Institutes, has sent out a revised request about the situation at the schools:
I write today to bring to your attention a very serious matter that deeply affects the Mar Elias Educational Institutions. Since June 2009 the Mar Elias teachers have not been paid because payments to MEEI from the Israeli Ministry of Education are being withheld. The situation is explained in the letter below. The staff and Board of Pilgrims of Ibillin have been aware of this for several months and we have been in conversation with Archbishop Chacour about it. Up until now Abuna has been of the opinion that action on our part would complicate things and not be helpful. However, he now says that it is time to "go public."
At his request, we offer the suggested letter (also attached as a Word document) and ask that you join us in sending a copy to Mr. Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's Minister of Education. The fax number from the U.S. is 011 972 2 560 2223. An alternative would be to fax the Director General at 011 972 2 560 2336. (In each case, 011 is the international access code and 972 is Israel's country code. The rest is the fax #.)
Thank you for the many ways you support Abuna's work in education and peacebuilding. A remarkable group of faculty and staff join him in that work, and they both need and deserve our support. Your prayers and your letters will be deeply appreciated. Feel free to ask others in your network to join you in this appeal. We will certainly let you know when there is a resolution to this challenging situation.
Sincerely yours,
Robert E. Sawyer, Executive Director
pilgrims@...
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Mr. Gideon Sa'ar, Minister of Education
Ministry of Education
34, Shivtei Yisrael Street
Jerusalem 91911, ISRAEL
Fax: 972 2 560 2223
Dear Mr. Sa'ar,
Recently it has come to our attention by way of supporters of Mar Elias Educational Institutions that a grave injustice is being committed with regards to the suspension of student subsidies used to pay teachers’ salaries at one of the educational facilities inside Israel.
Archbishop Elias Chacour, whose life-long goal has been to provide a good education for children regardless of race or religion, in an atmosphere of peace, respect, and love for one another, has built one of the most successful educational institutions in Israel. These facilities are held up by the international community as an example of how peace and reconciliation is possible in the Middle East. Because of the success of Mar Elias Educational Institutions’ academic and social achievements, the archbishop was approached by a number of people from the village of Dabourieh, including the local authorities, the parents of many students, and a large number of teachers, to help them improve the quality of education for their children.
The archbishop agreed to open a new high school, but not before complying with the government’s requirement of applying for a permit from the Ministry of Education. Applications were submitted repeatedly to which there was no reply whatsoever from the Ministry office. In the meantime, a list of new students was sent to the Ministry of Education. One month before the school was scheduled to open they received the subsidies for the students in order to pay the salaries of the teachers. This action of the payment of subsidies by the Ministry of Education was a concrete step connoting their approval to open the school. Since the Ministry of Education continued to pay all the subsidies for the students of Dabourieh it was then registered as a branch of Mar Elias Educational Institutions (MEEI) with the expectation and understanding that the school in Dabourieh would eventually operate independently.
The second year the school was in operation the Ministry of Education continued to pay the subsidies until June, 2009. Suddenly without any prior notice, the Ministry office froze all the payments for all of Mar Elias Educational Institutions, a situation which continues to this day. The Ministry of Education office thence ordered that MEEI disassociate itself from the school in Dabourieh. The Ministry office also ordered MEEI to stop registering students from Dabourieh as a condition for the Ministry office to reinstate the payment of subsidies for the other Mar Elias institutions. MEEI immediately complied and yet, to this date, the Ministry of Education office has continued, against the advice of its own legal department, to illegally withhold funds due to MEEI which currently amount to an excess of 9 million shekels.
This non-payment of subsidies by the Ministry of Education has resulted in more than 200 teachers and their families being forced to suffer without income since that date in June, 2009.
As internationals we find this intentional withholding of funds and non-action on the part of the Ministry of Education to be a serious and blatant misuse of power, causing undue suffering of hundreds of people who hold Israeli citizenship. For a country that prides itself on being a democracy, this type of action is considered to be not only discriminatory, but a violation of the internationally recognized Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 which states: “ (1) Everyone has the right to an education. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups…� MEEI has proven to be and is internationally famous for being a successful example of this statement.
Therefore, we strongly request that the Ministry of Education immediately comply with the law and provide all overdue payments of the student subsidies to MEEI and reinstate the regular payments of such, so that the teachers can receive the salaries which they so rightly deserve and to ensure that their families will no longer be forced to suffer from this injustice.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signature)________________________________________
(Country)__________________________________________