'Lupo, let us live here', signs say
Photo: Eli Mandelbaum
'Doghouse' students protest Jerusalem housing crisis
Dozens of young demonstrators gather outside capital's municipality with tents, guitars, coffee in order to call on city leaders to stop building expensive 'ghost neighborhoods' for foreign residents, create inexpensive student housing
While most only complain of the rising housing prices, a few dozen young people decided to do something about it, and demonstrated in front of the Jerusalem Municipality on Monday. Equipped with tents, guitars, coffee, and a lot of emotion, they called on the municipality to be more considerate of the young population in the capital and to give them a good enough reason to stay.
The demonstrators arrived with signs that read: "The city center belongs to the young", "Let us live in this city", and "Stop building ghost neighborhoods", as well as signs protesting against Mayor Uri Lupolianski reading, "Lupo let us live here".
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The participants are members of 'Meluna' (Lit: Doghouse), which has been waging a battle to introduce reduced-price housing for the capital's young population. The protest was designed to demonstrate the detrimental effect of the steadily rising housing prices on Jerusalem's annual wave of new students.
The Meluna group, in cooperation with the National Student Union, has been battling the rising housing prices in Jerusalem for years, as they claim this constitutes the main reason for which young people leave the city.
One of the group's leaders explained to Ynet: "Unfortunately a year has gone by, and the municipality's promises to lower student housing prices have not been fulfilled. They continue to approve ghost buildings for foreign residents, and unfortunately thoughts are only of money, not of the students' welfare."
'Students campaigning for Bareket'
Appropriately timed, the Jerusalem Municipality on Monday approved the establishment of a professional team to devise a plan for the creation of reduced-price housing for the students and young people living in the city.
The team will investigate current building plans, legal precedents, and similar programs worldwide in order to create an efficient solution for the housing crisis. The plan is scheduled to be submitted for approval in four months.
The municipality's spokesperson's office stated that the demonstration conducted outside its doors stems from political maneuvering ahead of the local elections. "These are representatives of Nir Bareket's election campaign," the statement said.
"Just today the financial committee approved a reduced-price housing project for students. In addition, students living in the city center receive financial aid through the 'Lupolianski Package'. The municipality is also spurring the construction of apartments in the city in order to reduce their cost," it concluded.
