12/11/14 Haifa. On Thursday November 20th the Mayor of Ashkelon Itamar Shimoni decided to suspend the employment of Arab workers in all kindergartens untilfurther notice.He called to ban all Arab construction workers from kindergartens in the city while children are present in the school. This move has drawn criticism from organizations and politicians from both coalition and opposition parties. Shimoni claims he made this decision because of pressure from parents fearing an attack on the schools, but the head of the Ashkelon parents' association said that Shimoni did not confer with the parents' association before making the decision. She went on to say that while parents did request more resources for security, the idea of banning workers from the schools was never mentioned.

Following the Mossawa Center's criticism last night many government leaders including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett spoke out against the mayor's decision. Saying it was unfair and illegal to discriminate against all Arab citizens.

Jafar Farah, the director of the Mossawa Center, stated, "The Prime Minister was promoting the "National Law" on Sunday which will deepen the discrimination that we face, and the Ashkelon Mayor's order is part of the incitement against the Arab community led by the Prime Minister himself." This law will be brought for a cabinet debate this coming Sunday on November 23rd. Less than 10% of the employees of governmental offices are Arab citizens and the Arab labor force is concentrated in unskilled labor as a result of economic discrimination.

The Mossawa Center condemns this action from Mayor of Ashkelon Itamar Shimoni as well as the racist and inciting remarks from political leaders that led to this decision. Mossawa's legal team has already warned of legal action if the decision is not retracted immediately. Mossawa is prepared to bring this case to court as it is an obvious violation of anti-discrimination labor laws. It will also have a heavy economic toll. Preventing Arab citizens from working could lead to a loss of more than 100 million shekels a day.

Mossawa calls on government leaders to work towards calming tensions across the country instead of fanning the flames of fear and mistrust.