Students protesting in Haifa
Photo: Doron Golan
Closed gate in Tel Aviv
Photo: Niv Calderon
Students block entrance to campuses
University gates across Israel chained shut as students' protest intensifies. Some 400 demonstrate in Haifa
Launching a nationwide protest Monday morning, students blocked entrance to campuses across Israel, chaining gates shut, and intensifying their 24-day-long struggle.
The strike continued despite university heads' threats to cancel the semester, and students began protesting in Haifa and Be'er Sheva early Monday morning. Protests in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Eilat are also set to take place throughout the day.
University heads announced Sunday night that their ultimatum that students either show up for class Monday morning or have their semester canceled was postponed for Friday, apparently due to progress in negotiations between students and government representatives.
Gates chained shut at Tel Aviv University (photo: Niv Calderon)
Students giving in to the threats arrived at universities across the country Monday morning only to find the gates chained shut, and those showing up at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva were booed.
In Haifa, some 400 students blocked the main entrance to the Technion, and continued marching in the streets, blocking roads and obstructing traffic.
Tomer Tziter, chairman of the Technion's student union said that negotiations with the government were progressing and that the students should not give up on the struggle, saying that he noticed good will on part of the bodies involved in negotiations.
The protesting students were also joined by some lecturers, including Dean of the Technion's faculty of architecture Rachel Sebba, who told the students, "This is a long-term battle, a just and right struggle, however, I think that you should go back to class and continue the struggle at the same time."
Ahiya Raved contributed to this report
