59% of Israeli teens don’t want Arab students in their class 

(MENAFN - Arab News) Two-thirds of Israeli teens say that Arab students living in Israel do not enjoy equal rights in schools, according to a study.

The survey, prepared for the Education in the Digital Age conference in the northern city of Haifa on Monday, also revealed that 59 percent of teens aged 15 to 18 believe that Arab students should not have equal rights in schools.

According to the survey, 96 percent of respondents want Israel to be a Jewish and democratic state.

However, 27 percent believe that those who object to government policies should be tried in court, while 41 percent support stripping them of their citizenship.

Just under a third said they would not be willing to learn in a classroom with one or more students with special needs. This number increased to a half when the same question was asked regarding Arab students. In addition, 23 percent said that they wouldnt want gays or lesbians in their class.

The poll also revealed that 40 percent of Jewish youth have never been a part of a youth group, while 45 percent have never volunteered in any capacity.

With regards to serving in the Israeli army, 83 percent said that they dont doubt that they will serve, but about a half said that they have friends that do not plan on enlisting.

More than half of the surveys respondents said that they did not want to serve in the combat units of the army.

In response to a question of whether they would serve in the territories or not, 24 percent said they would refuse, 47 percent said that they would not, while the remainder were undecided.

The survey was conducted by Professor Camil Fuchs from the Statistics Department of Tel Aviv University in cooperation with the company Sample Project. Five hundred people between the ages of 15 and 18 were surveyed.

By Mohammed Mar'i