Rally marks 2-year anniversary of social protest
Thousands take to streets in Tel Aviv, call on government to cancel budget cuts
Two years after the first tent was pitched in Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard, thousands of Israelis took part in a special rally organized by social protest activists on Saturday.
Organizers claim the objective is three-fold: to mark two years since 2011's summer protest, a year to the death of Moshe Silman, and to protest against the current government's economic policy.
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The protest was led by some of the leaders of the 2011 protest: Daphni Leef, Regev Contes, Shir Nosatzki and Oren Pasternak.
Protesters left the Tikva neighborhood in Tel Aviv and joined other demonstrators starting their march from the Habima Square – together the groups headed to Kaplan Street where a rally was held.
Protesters in Habima Square (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Protesters carried signs that read "It's time to tax the rich" "Bibi + Lapid = Morsi, same revolution."
About 200 protesters briefly blocked traffic in the Ayalon Highway, in the vicinity of HaShalom Interchange. Hundreds of protesters near Azrieli Center blocked one of the lanes leading to Ramat Gan
Video courtesy of jn1.tv
Two years after the social protest, Israelis are still evaluating its impact on Israeli politics and the public discourse. "The protest touched base with citizens but politicians have yet to internalize it," says Leef.
"We don't have another two years to wait. We're dealing with an aggressive policy that leads to poverty on the one hand and brain drain on the other. This is a good enough reason to resume our protest."
Photo: Motti Kimchi
In July 2012, Haifa resident Moshe Silman set himself on fire during a protest that marked the one-year anniversary of the social protest. He died of his wounds several days later.
'Bibi, you burned me too' (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Regev Contes addressed Silman's death, "We are celebrating the second anniversary of our civil uprising against the cynical pillage of the Israeli public by a handful of businessmen and corrupt politicians.
"We are also marking one year since the death of Moshe Silman who addressed his last letter to Benjamin Netanyahu and Yuval Steinitz, and had he lived today would have probably also included the current finance minister. We call on the government to cancel the cuts and build tens of thousands of apartments, or resign."
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