Israelis have taken to the streets in many of the country’s major cities for the fourth week in a row to protest against high living costs.
By 9pm local time, at least 50,000 people across the country had turned out, for what is becoming a weekly occurence.
In Haifa, where a concert took place as part of the demonstration, the number attending was about 25,000. In Tel Aviv, authorities say the protesters set up more than 1,000 tents.
The demonstrations were initially a response to soaring property prices, but now they have expanded into complaints about expensive food, petrol and education.
Under pressure from the movement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is willing to alter his economic approach and has set up a committee to look into the demands of the mainly middle class protesters. Recommendations for reform are due within a month.
Real Democracy Now Take The Square Arab Spring European Revolution World Revolution
Heads in Sand: Israel's biggest anti-govt protests ignored by media
In Israel, mainstream media are being accused of burying their heads in the sand over coverage of the biggest anti-government protests the country has seen in decades. Tens of thousands of people, fed up with deteriorating living standards, are staging demonstrations calling for Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down. But as Paula Slier reports from Tel Aviv, protesters' voices are simply going unheard by the rest of the world.
Arab Spring Spanish Revolution "Indignados, Democracia Real Ya, Toma La Calle", "Democracia Verdadeira Já" Portuguese Revolution "Indignados, As Ruas São Nossas", Latin Revolution, European Uncut Real Democracy Now movements hits Israel and becomes World Revolutio.
Arab Spring or European style discontent? Israel is the latest scene of nation wide mass protests. Thousands are taking part in rallies to demand the government provide cheaper housing, and lower the cost of living. The biggest protest yet, centred in Tel-Aviv, is planned for Saturday night. RT talks to Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian-Israeli journalist
Anger Tsunami: Mass protest wave reaches Israel
nstrators will take to the streets in seven cities across the country. And activists hope the rally in Tel Aviv alone will attract half-a-million people. Thousands have been camping out across the country for about a week now, calling for social justice and for Prime Minister Netanyahu to go. RT's Paula Slier is in Tel Aviv
'Netanyahu stressed, may start war to get protesters off street'
A show of unrest is taking place in Israel. Thousands of young protesters pitched tent-camps across the country's cities, calling for social justice and voicing discontent at government policies. A mass rally is planned for Saturday, which will be attended by both students and professionals. RT talks to Stav Shaffir, one of the main protest organizers to get more on the story.
Tens of thousands of Israelis poured onto the streets in Tel Aviv to protest rising commodity, housing prices and stagnation in salaries
Tel Aviv, Israel. On Sat. night, Tens of thousands protest in a rally against the Gov. & prices rising.
According to the police, more than 20 thousands participated. The rally is a part of the continuous "tent cities" protest, that keep going on for more then a week, & which spread to other cities, such as Beer Sheva & Ashdod (S. Israel) & Kiryat Shemone (N. Israel). The tent city in Tel Aviv stretched to more than 200 tents in the center of city. The rally starts from the tent city toward the defence ministry ("haKirya").
One of the protestors leader, Daphni Leef, said on he stage that she is shocked from the number of the protests, grow so radicalyy only within one month. The protestors main slogens were: "The government have replacement, civilians don't have", "Fighting for the house", "welfare state now" & so on.
It is important to mention, that the protest is not only due to the rising of the apartment prices, but also on other financial issues in Israel & on the general feelings by many Israelis, that the gov. is neglecting the social care.
The protestors emphasized the a-political aspect of the rally, clayming that it is but a social protest by civilians from all parts of the population. Indeed, most of the protestors were common middle class civilians, but one could not notice the participance of the left & radical left parties, as well as that many of the posters mark symbols & icons from the left wing parties.
At the end of the rally, police arrested some 20 protestors, according to news media, that block roads in the city.
Middle east, Europe, Israel and i guess Canada is next than the US, in terms of protesting liberal policies like the federal reserve, to be shutdown and all money must be backed in mineral resources. But also this protest is a left wing union protest, so there are many questions to be asked to know their credibility.
Spirit of revolution starts in Tel Aviv, sweeps across Israel
Hundreds visit tent compound on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv to protest rising house prices; similar sites planned for Be’er Sheva, Netanya, Kfar Sava and Kiryat Shmona.
Many movements and individuals have joined the struggle. Camps are planned in several cities, the national student union has joined and plans to set up camps in three campuses. Spontaneous initiatives keep popping up, like a feminist tent, a group planning a weeklong “rage” actions, and a “revolution market”.
The Tel Aviv encampement is still in place. No one has tried to evacuate us. We were on the front page of every major newspaper. Hundreds came throughout the day, well-known artists are performing, and all the TV channels were here. The prime minister issued a statement saying he is aware of the housing crisis and is trying (?) to solve it: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4096312,00.html
Don’t forget our twitter is @TLV_Revolution
We apologize almost all of our material is in Hebrew, we have our hands full right now, soon we will translate more to English.
The protests are spreading across Israel!
“Protesters said they had received a letter from the leaders of Spain’s M15 protest movement, which two months ago brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets to protest the country’s high unemployment and high housing prices. “What we did is similar to what you are doing this very moment,” the letter said.”
16th/17th July
It’s not just in Tel Aviv, it’s spreading everywhere.
“People just started chanting: R-E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N!!!! ”
Assemblies started today in a more organized manner. We’re using a version of the guide from the assembly dinamization committee in Madrid. In the evening more people come, the media is here, and musicians come to perform. There’s an alimentation team that makes meals for everyone camping. There’s still a lot of confusion about the political goals of the protest, but now it’s being discussed in the assemblies. Police is keeping quiet, but they already threatened to evacuate us before Sunday.
I’m writing to you from the new protest camp in Habima Square in Tel Aviv, where dozens of tents have been set up and hundreds of people have been participating throughout the day. There is music, people are bringing food, and there is a lot of talk about how to organize and how to move forward. The knowledge we got from Spain is priceless. It’s been a bit chaotic till now, it’s unclear how long this can last and when the police will come to evacuate us, but for now they are leaving us alone. People are angry about prices of housing, food, and basic living, and they’re very upset with the politicians and the government. But it’s still unclear whether this will go any further than music and camping on the street. They had a small assembly this afternoon, but I heard mixed reactions about how it went. Tomorrow we will try again.
We opened a twitter account. We’re writing mostly in hebrew, but we’ll try to write some in english as well: @TLV_Revolution
