Israeli Minister: No aid for Arab towns in the North

Brought to you by Haaretz:

Environment Minister Gideon Ezra claimed Sunday that Arab towns "acted normally during the war" and therefore there is no reason for them to receive aid intended for the north.

Oh, I thought it was the North that was being targeted by Hezbollah rockets? And that people were evacuated into refugee camps according to their ethnic origin (Top notch "Jewish" camps and dirty "Arab" sad-excuse-of-bunker basements). But forget about all that.. It's plausible to "act normally" in such a situation as those rockets only inflicted minor damage, and had a lower probability of killing you than you winning the lottery jackpot..

"A distinction must be made, and we must make sure that Arab towns don't get all of the money from the Education Ministry program," Ezra said at a cabinet meeting, during which Education Minister Yuli Tamir unveiled a plan for rehabilitating the north.

"I couldn't believe that a minister in Israel would dare say such a thing regarding Israeli citizens," Tamir said.

Well it's time to believe it..

At the meeting, Tamir presented the plan for rehabilitating the education system in the north, which includes a longer school day and expanding the meal plan. Some 440,000 students in the north would enjoy the benefits of the plan.

The plan, which costs NIS 600 million, is part of a reform plan that Tamir presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the war. After the war, the plan was restricted to the north.

The Education Ministry is trying to raise money from private funds in order to implement the plan, but most of the money has not yet been raised.

The cabinet is to vote on the plan at the next cabinet meeting, though it is unclear if it will be approved.

Saying that there will be no aid due to a shortage in funds (which will never happen any time soon as long as Israel is standing on the US's shoulders and living off its tax money) is one thing, but denying Arab-Israeli citizens their right to a better education for no legitimate reason is another.