Moshe Silman, who set himself on fire Saturday night to protest his inability to obtain government housing assistance, was still alive Monday morning, despite suffering burns on 94 percent of his body. But Dr. Joseph Hayak, head of the burn unit at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, said that Silman was still in very serious condition. Some 2,000 people demonstrated Sunday night in front of the government offices in Tel Aviv in protest of the public housing situation in Israel. The activists blocked Ayalon Highway and several other streets in Tel Aviv.
Demonstrators read aloud the suicide note left behind by Silman, who accused the neo-liberal government, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of being directly responsible for his financial predicament. Silman had complained that he received no rent assistance despite being unable to work after having recently suffered a stroke. Participants at the event included MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), social protest leader Stav Shafir, several Hadash and Communist Party members and other activists affiliated with the movement that began a year ago on Rothschild Boulevard.
Protesters march to Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway on July 15, 2012, the day after Moshe Silman set himself on fire after a social justice demonstration (Photo: Activestills)
Protests were also held in Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheba. In Jerusalem, police arrested at least five demonstrators after they tried to block roads at Paris Square. About 200 demonstrators marched from Independence Park to the Prime Minister’s Residence chanting: “We are all Moshe Silman!” The protest started peacefully but once the demonstrators attempted to block the road, clashes broke out between them and police, though there were no injuries. Demonstrators also tried to block the light rail and screamed “Let’s burn ourselves!” The protest ended at the National Insurance Institute building in downtown Jerusalem. “We’re all Moshe Silman – The Blood is on The Government’s Hands,” started off in the Jerusalem Independence Park and ended near the Prime Minister’s Residence.
In Haifa, dozens of protesters demonstrated outside government offices and expressed solidarity with Silman. Some of the protesters said they identified with the man who set himself alight Saturday night, saying that they too had been pushed to the edge by government policy relating to public housing. The protesters waived signs reading “This is not a personal tragedy, but an evil policy” and “the entire nation is Moshe Silman.”
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