Christian schools in Israel on strike against fund slash

Hundreds of students rallied in Israel Wednesday, as a strike over public slashing of the country's Christian schools' funds entered its 16th day.

Police closed off the government compound entrance in the city of Haifa, preventing protesters from entering the building, said a police spokesperson.

Organizers of the strike declared in a statement that if the government does not solve the crisis within the next two days, they will "escalate the protest, including a possible general strike in Arab society with the National Teachers' Association joining the strike."

Israel's 47 Roman Catholic-run schools have been on strike since the school year began on Sept. 1. The strike affects 33,000 pupils, the vast majority of whom are of Arab descent.

Protesters say while Jewish ultra-Orthodox schools are fully subsidized by the government, Christian schools receive only 75 percent of their budget from governmental funds. Recently, the government slashed its support to 29 percent, forcing parents to cover the missing funds out of their own pockets.

Also on Wednesday, over 140 university professors signed a petition urging the government "to stop discriminating" against Christian schools.

Over the past weeks rallies were held in major cities throughout Israel, including demonstrations Tuesday outside the residences of both the finance and education ministers.

Several cardinals, part of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe delegation, are on an official visit to Israel. They are expected to meet with President Reuven Rivlin Wednesday to ask him to solve the crisis. Endit