Weinstein: Don't jail Emmanuel moms

Attorney-General, Sephardic parents ask High Court for leniency.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, ABE SELIG
emmanuel kids 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
emmanuel kids 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein recommended on Friday that the High Court not jail the mothers of students from the Beit Ya'akov school in Emmanuel.
The mothers of the students at the girls school were supposed to begin two-week jail terms for contempt of court over discriminatory practices at the school, but they did not appear at the police station on Thursday.
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Some of the mothers are pregnant, and most have many children. Devora Fuksman, one of the Emmanuel mothers, gave birth to a girl last night. Her husband, Yehuda, was one of the fathers that did not go to jail Thursday night. He stayed by his wife during the birth of his twelfth child, and reported to the Maasiyahu Prison on Friday morning. Two more fathers still have not reported to jail.
After the parents' lawyer requested that the mothers not be jailed, the Attorney-General met with representatives of the Welfare and Social Services ministry, who advised him to take the children's welfare into consideration. Army Radio reported that the ministry is prepared to take care of the 250 children whose parents were sentenced, and has appointed a social worker to each family.
Late Thursday night, Weinstein held a meeting at the Ministry of Justice, in which he praised the police on their non-violent behavior during the protests accompanying the jailing of the Emmanuel fathers.
On Friday, the Sephardic parents that petitioned the court, claiming the Beit Ya'akov school is racist, returned to the High Court with a new request - free the fathers.
"Incarceration is not an effective way to enforce the High Court's decision in this matter," they wrote in their new petition.
Also on Friday, the High Court decided not to put the mothers in jail until Sunday, at least. Judge Edmond Levy said this is because the three judges in the Emmanuel case could not appear in court that morning.