Parents furious: Arab kindergarten teachers and assistants prevented children from standing during siren

Many parents at a kindergarten in Rosh Ha'Ayin, where children aged 5-6 are taken care of, complained that the kindergarten staff and Arab assistants at the kindergarten prevented the children from standing up to the siren sounded last week on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

According to Israel Hayom, one of the parents hung a sign throughout the city stating that the kindergarten educational staff, both the kindergarten teacher and the assistant, from the Arab sector, forced the children to sit during the siren.

One of the mothers expressed outrage: "These are older children who already understand what Holocaust Day is. That's why it's very serious. Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers is approaching, and I am afraid that even then they will prevent our children from standing at the siren and honoring the memory of the fallen." She blamed the municipality, which she said received a request to fire the kindergarten staff but did nothing.

The municipality responded to the report: "Following the unplanned absence of the kindergarten principal and the permanent assistant at the Or kindergarten, substitutes from the municipal pool of assistants were placed in the kindergarten. An in-depth inquiry conducted with the professional bodies shows that during the siren, the children and the staff conducted themselves in accordance with the rules of the ceremony: the children gathered for a meeting before the siren, during which they stood together with the kindergarten teacher and the assistant. However, some of the children showed restlessness, a phenomenon that is not unusual at these ages, and does not reflect a deliberate lack of respect."

"The claims that the staff prevented the children from standing are untrue and baseless," the municipality statement continued. "The Rosh Ha'Ayin Municipality views the commemoration of the National Memorial Days as an educational value of the first order, and works to prepare all staff and children for these moments throughout the year. At the same time, we will conduct additional internal investigation and work to learn lessons, in order to strengthen and ensure an optimal educational response even in cases of unexpected absences. We call to refrain from generalizing or attributing wrongful acts to all teams, and we always work to unite and respect the values shared by all of us."