Israel - Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox protesters gathered in Jerusalem and in Bnei Brak on Thursday to support the right of Ashkenazi Hasidic parents to keep their children in classes segregated from their Mizrahi peers.

Ultra-Orthodox officials made a last-ditch effort on Wednesday to keep parents in the settlement of Immanuel from being arrested and jailed for refusing to implement a High Court of Justice ruling requiring the Ashkenazi and Mizrahi girls to study in the same classes.

The parents were ordered to arrive at the Jerusalem police headquarters at 1 P.M. on Thursday to begin carrying out their prison terms. The parents did not fulfill that order, however, and police have asked the court to legally delay the sentencing until 5 P.M.

The court had initially scheduled the sentencing to begin at 12 P.M., but postponed the commencement due to the mass protests expected in the city.

The 43 families of the Ashkenazi girls seemed elated Wednesday by the prospect of their impending arrest and two-week jail term, which some called “a historic stand for the sanctification of the name of heaven.”

The police have given a permit for a 20,000-strong demonstration in Jerusalem, to be led by Ashkenazi Haredi political and religious leaders. Thousands more gathered in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said about 100,000 people converged in downtown Jerusalem in support of the Ashkenazi parents. An additional 20,000 demonstrated in the central city of Bnei Brak.