Female Arab daycare teachers racially targeted, center closes in response

The daycare's nursery will not open on Thursday due to a lack of manpower, as many Arab teachers have chosen not to continue working.

 PLAYTIME AT the daycare center. (photo credit: SEEACH SOD)
PLAYTIME AT the daycare center.
(photo credit: SEEACH SOD)

After female Arab teachers at a Na’amat Daycare Center in Holon were racially accosted, the organization on Tuesday said the center would remain closed on Wednesday in protest.

According to Na’amat chairwoman Hagit Pe’er, the Arab teachers would not be returning to work due to the danger posed to them.

As a result, the daycare’s nursery would not open and might remain closed due to a lack of manpower, she said.

“I do not intend to allow a reality where workers are afraid to come to their workplace and suffer attacks that give off a bad and pungent smell of racism,” Pe’er said. “We will not allow children to be exposed to messages of hate.”

"I do not intend to allow a reality where workers are afraid to come to their workplace and suffer attacks that give off a bad and pungent smell of racism."

Hagit Peer

Daycares had only threatened to close down recently

The Supervised Daycares and Teachers’ Forum had warned that daycares might not open on September 1 in time for the 2022-23 school year.

 Workers in the daycare educational system and parents protest in Tel Aviv, demanding better working conditions. July 5, 2022. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
Workers in the daycare educational system and parents protest in Tel Aviv, demanding better working conditions. July 5, 2022. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)

The decision to open was only made after the government raised teachers’ salaries along with daycare prices for parents. The forum also said if no solutions were found to the problems of racism and the threat of violence, some 1,500 daycare centers would remain closed.