Kids at non-Haredi Bnei Brak school find gate welded shut; parents decry ‘unending’ harassment

Children at an elementary school in Bnei Brak arrived Monday morning to find the gates welded shut, leading parents to accuse the largely Haredi city’s leadership of discriminating against the religious Zionist educational institution in which boys and girls study together.

The Bnei Brak municipality has blamed an “extremist neighbor” for welding the gate and asserted that a back entrance was still open in the morning. But parents at Afikim School, as well as a teacher, told Hebrew media that the school was completely inaccessible. Police were called to break open the gate.

Parents said Monday’s incident was just the latest instance of neglect and disruption at the school since it was damaged in an Iranian missle attack last year.

Afikim serves some 200 students, including some in special education.

“The harassment is just unending,” a mother at the school told the Ynet outlet. “It seems that there are people around us who are not willing to accept that we are a co-ed school for boys and girls.”

Parents said that there have been problems at the school ever since its original building was damaged in the Iranian attack. The mother who spoke to Ynet said that following the strike, the students were placed in an inadequate building that lacked air conditioning and suffered frequent power outages and leaks.

The school has since moved to a new property it shares with a Haredi girls’ school. That uneasy coexistence has led to more problems, the mother said.

“At first, the municipality didn’t even bother to put a sign at the entrance, and young children on the first day of school didn’t know where to go. Then they put up a sign that was only for girls,” she said.

טוביה יגלניק: אירוע מופרע הבוקר בבני ברק: הכניסה לבית הספר הממלכתי-דתי נחסמה כי אין בו הפרדה מגדרית בין הילדים. קיצונים חרדים הלחימו וריתכו את שער הכניסה לביהס הממלכתי- דתי בשכונת פרדס כ״ץ המעורבת, כדי שהתלמידים, רבים מהם ילדי חינוך מיוחד, לא יוכלו להיכנס. בתמונה: אחרי פריצת השער pic.twitter.com/sM460ENpF9

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In a statement to Hebrew media, the municipality attributed the furor surrounding the welded gate to the challenges of housing schools of different religious affiliations on the same grounds.

“Out of responsibility and a desire to prevent friction and unpleasantness, the municipality invested resources and prepared designated, separate entrances for the educational institutions, Afikim School among them.”

The municipality claimed in its statement that the back gate had been open, and cast blame on the parents for the controversy, alleging that their refusal to use the rear gate was an “unnecessary, populist step.”

But those who were at the school said all entrances were in fact shut. A mother told Ynet that the schools use separate entrances so that Haredi students can avoid mixing with their religious Zionist peers.

Parents are now contacting the municipality to ensure that their children will be able to continue to go to school.

“Our children are not faceless, and this disrespect will not go away quietly,” a parent told Channel 12. “The time has come for someone to take responsibility and provide answers.”