In December 1979 Maariv carried an exposé of the grow- br

ing open hostility toward the state manifested in Arab govern- br

ment schools. It quoted an official of the Education Ministry: br

“Political subjects are raised in class and teachers utter slogans br

that deny the very existence of the state. These are com- br

monplace occurrences.” The superintendents whose job it is to br

check and prevent such incidents are themselves, in many cases, br

in sympathy with the statements. Writes Maariv: “At a meeting br

of superintendents three years ago, one said: ‘I am a Palestinian br

Arab and as such I will educate the children.’”

Among the incidents reported by Maariv:

•aaaOn a trip to Jericho by a school in Araba, the teacher br

shouted at two Bedouins serving in the Israeli army: “You br

should be ashamed of yourselves wearing those uniforms and br

serving in the army as the Jews rob you of your land.”

•aaaIn Rama, on Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day), a br

teacher told his class, “Those Arabs who celebrate the Jewish br

Independence Day are traitors to their homeland.”

•aaaOn Independence Day, 1977, as the Israeli flag was being br

raised, one teacher in Sakhnin said: “This flag raising is in hon- br

or of the day of servitude and not of independence.” The same br

day, in the village of Sha’ab, three teachers refused to rise for the br

flag raising and asked others to do likewise.

In general, the flag has become the symbolic target of Is- br

raeli Arab teachers and students alike. In Tayba, one teacher br

refuses to teach about the Israeli flag since “the two blue stripes br

are symbols of the occupation and the desire to expand to the br

Nile and Euphrates.”

•aaaOn June 18, 1978, students in Turan ripped the flag to br

pieces. The principal admitted there had been similar incidents br

in the past and apologized for not reporting them. According to br

Maariv: “There have been cases of flag burning, the drawing of br

the PLO flag on blackboards, and hate-filled compositions. In br

none of these cases was there an adequate response by adminis- br

tration or faculty.”

•aaaIn November 1978 Prime Minister Rabin visited Nazareth br

to speak to high school students. The Arab students asked him br

questions that in both content and tone shocked the country. br

Said Maariv in an editorial: “If anyone thought that the pro- br