Osnat Vishinsky
Protestors marching all the way to Tel aviv
'Politicians have said enough'
The artists that will perform at tonight's anti-Olmert demonstration in Tel Aviv, support organizers' decision not to include politicians. 'I hope the absence of political figures will encourage people to come and protest,' says host Osnat Vishinsky
Organizers of tonight's demonstration in Rabin Square, calling the prime minister and defense minister to take responsibility for the failures of the Second Lebanon War and resign immediately, have decided not to include speeches by politicians in the evening's program. The decision followed hundreds of letters sent to the organizers' offices asking to keep the demonstration "clean" of political wranglings.
Actress Osnat Vishinsky, a bereaved mother of a soldier killed in the Gaza Strip, will host the evening. Vishinsky told Ynet that: "It is the protest of the people of Israel that are asking for a better society and political integrity. The groups that will participate represent the people: reservists, bereaved families, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel and Uzi Dayan's Public Coalition. I hope many people will come. The message is relevant for everyone."
Singer Nimrod Lev who will be performing at tonight's demonstration. Lev told Ynet that: "The Winograd Committee spoke loud and clear. The Israeli government continuously ignores the citizens of the country. As a resident of northern Israel, I spent the war performing to soldiers en route to Lebanon. The country's sinking and they are busy with political trickery reminiscent of Third-World dictatorships. Yet we're dealing with our lives, I felt it strongly this past summer and the residents of Sderot experience it daily. We deserve better."
Lev believes it is time for the people to be heard. "Politicians have said enough," he says, "I call on everyone, ordinary people, artists, Ashkenazi, Sephardic, religious and secular to express their distrust of the government."
Singer Gilad Segev will perform the duet "We Deserve Better" together with Reut Hason, 17, the sister of Sergeant-Major Gilad Hason who was killed during the war. "I am doing it so that I'll be able to sleep at night. It's very difficult to walk around knowing something so terrible has happened. I felt I need to end this war myself," he said.
