Moments before the first bell: hundreds of parents in Kadima-Zoran prepare for a strike

Hundreds of parents in the town of Kadima-Zoran in the Sharon region are intensifying their struggle against the installation of photovoltaic systems in the town's educational institutions and are preparing to strike the education system tomorrow (Tuesday). The parents are demanding to stop the work and not to operate the systems until safety measures and appropriate radiation measurements are implemented to ensure the children's health.

Moments before the start of the school year, the struggle in Kadima-Zoran against the installation of solar systems on the roofs of educational institutions is escalating. Parents in the town announced that they are preparing to strike the education system if their demands regarding the safety of the systems are not met. According to the parents, the problem is not the transition to renewable energy itself, which they support, but they believe that when it comes to educational institutions where children stay, an especially strict threshold of caution, transparency, and supervision is required.

The struggle arose following the start of a project to install photovoltaic systems on the roofs of educational institutions and the parents' fear of exposure to electromagnetic fields. The parents equipped themselves with engineering and medical reports from leading experts in Israel and the world, as well as findings and studies by the World Health Organization (WHO) which explicitly state that Israeli regulation does not take into account populations sensitive to radiation and puts them at risk, under a 'techno-economic threshold' intended to allow progress at the expense of health risks.

The experts' reports were submitted to the council and so far have received only a partial response that does not address the essence of the report. The parents demand that the external contractor be held to the strict standards specified in the submitted reports, which are required when installing such systems over sensitive populations. The Ministry of Health's 'precautionary principle' must be adopted regarding children, and safety measures, radiation shielding, and correct measurements must be implemented to minimize risks.

"We are not against green energy - we are for our children," say parents leading the struggle. "None of us wants to strike the education system on the eve of the school year opening. But our first responsibility is to the children. We demand a basic thing: before you install, implement the experts' recommendations and do not hide behind 'regulation' that does not provide solutions for at-risk populations."

According to the parents, the main demands are:

1. Immediate cessation of work.

2. Implementation of safety recommendations from the parents' engineer report.

3. Execution of appropriate radiation tests under the guidance and approval of the parents' engineer.

4. The council's commitment not to introduce energy storage stations into educational institutions at any stage.

5. Full transparency in the continuation of the work.

Parents emphasize that for them, striking the education system is a last resort and not a goal in itself. "The school year cannot open when many parents feel that basic questions regarding their children's safety remain unanswered," say the struggle headquarters. "There is still time to make a responsible decision: stop, check, share with the public, and only then move forward. We call on the council to sit with us immediately and reach a solution that will allow us all to send our children to their frameworks with peace of mind."