TENT CITY, ISRAEL

[luvolution]

Demonstrations are being held around Israel over the rising cost of living, with at least a quarter of a million Israeli citizens participating with an energy unlike anything before.  Israeli citizens have been pushed to the brink of tolerance and inspired by revolutions that have taken over the region, some activists equating Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister - with Mubarak and Assad. Two nights ago in Haifa, residents from all sectors of society gathered in a large public demonstration shouting "The nation wants social justice!" However, while this slogan was being chanted by Israeli-Jews, Arabs and Russians alike, it is questionable how truly inclusive this concept of "nation" may be.

While in Israel I have met and befriended a number of Palestinian-Israelis - and due to the recent protests, it has been particularly interesting to witness the divisions that exist among Arabs in Israel, in regard to support and solidarity with the current movement. The demonstrations are not for democracy or equality, but rather against the inflated cost of basic goods. Two of my close friends are members of Israel's Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Official Communist Party of Israel). The party condemns  Zionism as "racist imperialism," an ideology contrary to egalitarian ideals and the universality of all humanity. I spoke with them after a meeting they had with members of Israel's Arab National Party, in which they discussed how the Palestinian-Arab community in Israel should react to these demonstrations. While neither group speaks for the entirety of its members, my friends stressed to me that, as Arabs in Israel, they should fight for social justice alongside Jewish-Israelis; while their counterparts in the Arab National Party voiced a need to point out what was not being addressed by the demonstrations.

While all this uproar is happening throughout the country among Jews, Arabs, Druze etc, it's interesting to see what still goes on unmentioned:

• The geographic marginalization of Mizrachi Jews in areas such as Kfar Shalem - in which the municipality is trying to demolish their homes to build luxury high rises;
• The housing criss for Palestinians from Yafo, for which municipal policies favor Jewish-only settlement; and other Palestinian villages wherein the Israeli government does not permit Palestinian-Israeli citizens to build;
• Palestinians being evicted from their homes in Lod, Ramle and Sheikh Jarrah;
• The demolition of Bedouin homes in the Negev;
• Money poured into settlement construction in the West Bank rather than sustainable housing solutions in Israel.

In response to these massive demonstrations, the Israeli government has promised the construction of thousands of new housing units - many of which are in East Jerusalem, to allow for increased Jewish settlement. This only brings validity to claims regarding the unrealistic inclusivity of the current Israeli "nation." Yet, while the government has proposed this solution, whether the people will stand for it is another matter; and it is my hope that this strain of injustice will lead to the realization of others.

Ben Gurion Blvd, Haifa






Tent City - Rothschild Boulevard, Tel-Aviv




Another interesting thing I have noticed since living here:
Protests aren't seen as something out of the ordinary, or sometimes even as a mechanism of change.
I asked someone who was passionate about the housing issue:
"Why didn't you join in the protest?"
"Habibti, we have protests every other weekend. This is nothing new."