Eleven people were arrested Sunday evening during a rally against the Tel Aviv Municipality'sdecision to dismantle a tent encampment in the Hatikva neighborhood, where some 40 homeless people have been camping since the summer.
Some 300 people gathered outside the Tel Aviv Municipality building after police forces evicted the inhabitants of a tent city in Hatikva Park earlier in the day. The protesters chanted "The people demand public housing" and "No evacuation without a solution."
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Police said that during the "illegal" demonstration 11 people were arrested for disturbing the peace, assaulting an officer, blocking traffic and insulting a public official.
The Tel Aviv Municipality said, "A number of residents who have been evacuated from Hatikva neighborhood have turned to us to receive financial assistance in renting an apartment. Apart from the fact that it is unfit for residence – particularly in wintertime - Hatikva Park is the only green area in the neighborhood.
'The last thing we had. Rally outside City Hall (Photo: Motti Kimhi)
"Given the special status of the people staying in the camp, (the municipality) allowed them to stay in the Hatikva encampment for a longer duration than other encampments in Tel Aviv," it said.
Social activist Tami Hajaj told Ynet, "We won't accept violence initiated by the State. We'll continue to protest."
Regev Kuntes, another social activist, said the Trachtenberg Committee report "notes that the State must provide basic living conditions for its underprivileged citizens. Today we saw that the report is nothing more than a sad joke at the expense of the entire State of Israel ."
Eran Saban, one of the homeless people evacuated from Hatikva Park, said "(Mayor Ron) Huldai sent his men to evacuate us from the lawn. They took away the last thing we had. Now we will have to sleep in the street."