With the start of the summer vacation, the Knesset Education Committee, headed by Zvi Sukkot, visited Umm al-Fahm yesterday (Sunday). The tour was held as part of Sukkot’s announcement that he would conduct visits to the Arab education system in order to closely examine programs aimed at combating violence in Arab society.
After news of the visit emerged over the weekend, the local Parents’ Committee and the Popular Committee in Umm al-Fahm declared a strike across the city's education system in protest against Sukkot’s arrival. It should be noted that middle schools and high schools have already been on their official summer break for more than a week.
MK Zvi Sukkot, who arrived at the site under heavy security, was met by the locked gates of the city's Al-Tasamuh Middle School.
In response to finding the school closed, Sukkot said that it had previously hosted terrorist organizations and inciters. “This school hosted terrorist organizations and inciters, including Raed Salah, who left house arrest to deliver a lesson to the students here. To the residents of Umm al-Fahm, I say: I am not your enemy, but I am not afraid of you either. Not a single shekel from the state treasury will go to a school like this.”
The committee chair added that the visit had been coordinated in advance with the Ministry of Education. A ministry representative, Shirin Harfi-Natour, explained to the committee that professional staff had prepared a detailed municipal briefing with all the relevant information, but emphasized that the school had been on its official summer break since June 18 and that, for this reason, it was not possible to bring the school principal to the tour.
During the exchange outside the building, Sukkot added that “apparently in Umm al-Fahm they have not heard of the Flag Law,” and said that the committee members had come to remind them of what the law requires. He then planted an Israeli flag at the locked entrance gate of the middle school.
The incident follows a similar tour held earlier this month in Tuba-Zangariyye, where MK Sukkot also encountered a locked school and attempted to force open its gates.
Umm al-Fahm Mayor Dr. Samir Mahamid issued a sharply worded response to the visit: “Someone who comes with a legacy of breaking into a military base and of what happened in Huwara cannot lecture the children of Umm al-Fahm or our educators about values. We teach tolerance and acceptance of others.”
