Israeli security bodies have always taken an interest in what went on in Israel’s Arabic public education system. A classified Shin Bet report found in a file in the Israel State Archives (ISA) shows just how closely it watched what Arab teachers – and students – said, including in private conversations.
Nationalist actions and statements by students and teachers
A lengthy report by the Shin Bet, addressed to the Ministry of Education, lists statements perceived as nationalistic – made by both teachers and students in the Arab public education system. The statements themselves are sedate, if not trivial, and it is difficult not to wonder what kind of spy and snitch network was required to produce these reports. For example, the report provides the names of students in grades nine to twelve who participated in a May Day demonstration in Nazareth, as well as the name of a 12th-grader from Haifa, who “was standing slackly, reading a newspaper and laughing,” during the moment of silence in memory of fallen Israeli soldiers.
The full names of the teachers and students mentioned in the document have been redacted by Akevot Institute. The rest of the redactions in the document were made per the instructions of the military censorship
