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The 'Equality March'
Yaniv Apota

'Equality March' continues toward Jerusalem

Aiming to draw attention to the underfunding of Israel's periphery, marchers have recently gained the support of several MKS from both the right and the left; 'Coalition MKs and ministers repeatedly speak about the periphery but there is no action,' said MK Stav Shafir (Labor).

As the fight for funding and opportunity in Israel's periphery gains momentum through the "Equality March," nationally elected officials lend their support to the cause by joining it.

 

 

The march began on Tuesday to protest the government's education and welfare budget allocation policies, and has attracted participants from across the country who have set their sights on Kiryat HaMemshala (government offices) in Jerusalem as their final destination.

 

The 'Equality March' (Phot: Yaniv Apota) (Yaniv Apota)
The 'Equality March' (Phot: Yaniv Apota)

 

After MKs Karin Elharar (Yesh Atid) and Yehuda Glick (Likud) participated in the protest march on Sunday, Monday's leg is due to include Stav Shafir (Labor) and Vicki Knafo, who had led the single mothers protest in 2003.

 

The Histadrut Labor federation will also lend its support, with chairman Avi Nissenkorn also slated to join the march. He explained that he decided to support the protests due to the glaring need to fight for equal opportunity in the periphery, so that children living there can receive the same opportunities as children from the center of Israel. "In order to minimize the gap and create equal opportunities we need to allocate funds to the periphery and to struggling municipalities," he was quoted as saying.

 

MK Stav Shafir voiced her own criticism of the current government: "Coalition MKs and ministers repeatedly speak about the periphery, but when the time comes to action, they gut the budgets intended for the periphery and only look out for their friends' interests," she said. 

 

On Sunday, the protestors marched to Kiryat Malachi, and they are expected to reach Beit Shemesh on Wednesday. Their demands center around instating a budget in welfare and education that more accurately reflects the proportions of the various sectors in Israeli society.

 

On Sunday, the Ministrial Committee on Legislative Affairs rejected a bill proposed by MK Karin Elharar and MK Haim Yalin (Yesh Atid) which would have served to this end. "The Israeli Government has the money," said Elharar regarding the proposed bill. "And just as it manages to reach the settlements, it should also reach the municipalities and local authorities that fight for proper education and welfare for its residents oeach and every day."

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.20.16, 11:34
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