Ben-Gvir has Israel Police break up east Jerusalem parents' committee meeting

The committee said the meeting was held to discuss the shortage of teachers in Arab schools in Israel.

 OTZMA YEHUDIT Party head Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israel Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Kobi Shabtai attend a ceremony last month (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
OTZMA YEHUDIT Party head Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israel Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Kobi Shabtai attend a ceremony last month
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir instructed Israel Police to break up a parents' committee meeting in east Jerusalem on Saturday, according to a report by Haaretz.

The committee's chairman Mahmoud Fayiz told Haaretz that he was called to an interrogation at the police station on Sunday with two other parents who were at the meeting.

The police warrant stated that the meeting was broken up because it was funded by the Palestinian Authority which is illegal under the Oslo Accords as they forbid PA activity within the borders of Jerusalem.

"It's time to stop the celebration of the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem and prevent the authority from holding terrorism conferences in Jerusalem," said Ben-Gvir in a statement.

The committee was discussing education

The committee, however, said that the meeting's objective was to discuss a shortage in teaching staff in Arab schools in Israel.

MK Itamar Ben Gvir seen in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah, on January 20, 2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
MK Itamar Ben Gvir seen in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah, on January 20, 2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

"I told the policeman that this is a committee that was chosen by the students' parents and that it has nothing to do with the Palestinian Authority," said Fayiz to Haaretz.

"We just don't want our children to be out on the streets."

Mahmoud Fayiz

The police have in the past broken up meetings in east Jerusalem that it claimed were affiliated with or funded by the PA including events for International Women's Day and soccer tournaments.