Provocation worked: boys were seated between two girls

The decision of a local court in Antwerp – which stirred a storm in the haredi community in the city - that the sons of Moshe Aryeh Friedman will learn at a school for girls, was enforced this morning: Friedman, accompanied by his two sons stood in the school building, 'Bnos Yerushalayim' of the Belzer Hasidim, went through the registration procedure - and placed them in classrooms.

More:
• Antwerp judge ruled: Boys will learn at girls' school

Friedman, his wife and two children - aged 8 and 11 - arrived at the school gates in a taxi, accompanied by a police vehicle traveling in front, and a vehicle with a representative of the court in charge of supervising that the school does not violate the court's decision – at the back.

The family were greeted outside the school gates by 25 journalists, three representatives from TV stations, and many photographers.

Friedman and his children entered, accompanied by the police and the court, into the heart of the school, filled the registration forms and soon after the children went into classrooms. A legal representative from the school wrote a special report on all that occurred.

Friedman's children were each seated between two girls, each in the class in which he is supposed to learn according to his age.

Immediately after the parents went outside the school gates and talked with the media.

"The school girls are happy to have boys"
Friedman's wife said in a conversation with journalists: "My children are Jewish and they must be in a Jewish school."

Friedman said: "The girls at school are happy that boys learn with them in class, and my children are happy not only because they are learning in a class with girls, but also because they are the only boys in the same class."

"He loved the attention around him," said Michael Zeevi Freilich, a journalist in 'Jood Actueel' in a conversation with Behadrey Haredim. "I tried to ask Friedman a few questions, such as if he understands that parents in the Hasidic community do not want contact with his family, because of his views and his friendship with the president of Iran, and he refused to answer or respond."

So, starting this morning, the two sons of Moshe Aryeh Friedman will attend the Bnos Yerushalayim school. If the school would violate the court's decision, for every day they will not be accept the children – the principals will have to pay a fine of $ 2,600.

In the Judge's decision, given more than a week ago, it was determined that the school is subsidized by the Flemish Ministry of Education in Belgium, and therefore is committed to the laws of the state, by which children must not be discriminated against for gender - and therefore the school must receive boys as well.

A Haredi journalist who declined to give his name, claimed that the school did not do good legal work as it should have. "I spoke with some legal experts," he said. "They thought that the school made legal errors that could have been avoided and prevent the recent decision of the court, as was the case of Friedman's claim against another hareidi school."

Antwerp did not like the new tenant
The affair began when Moshe Aryeh Friedman, who lived until two years ago in Vienna, Austria moved to Antwerp, Belgium where his father in law lives.

Friedman appeared as a provocateur, and was one of the "Neturei Karta" people, who participated in the conference of Holocaust deniers in Iran, where he even lived for a few months.

While moving to Belgium, Friedman announced that he is abandoning 'Neturei Karta' and the ties he had with senior figures in Iran, and is beginning a new path. But Antwerp did not like the new tenant, and refused to accept his children to the community school.

For months the Friedman's family's seven children stayed at home, while Torah institutions refuse to accept them and educate them.

Friedman made a test value, at the end of which he discovered that the school 'Bnos Yerushalayim' is a state school, the beneficiary of the authorities and obliged to their rules. Consequently, the case went to court to receive the children.

As noted, the court acceded to his demand - and ruled: Friedman's son will attend a girls' school.

The school opened proceedings to appeal the court's decision, but such a procedure may take months and even years.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!