African asylum seekers announced Sunday their intention to hold a protest in which demonstrators will stay in shifts in Levinsky Park in south Tel Aviv. The protest is to go on “until further notice.” The asylum seekers are protesting against the right-wing government’s immigration policy that has not changed despite the recent actions of protest that they have taken in the past weeks.
Asylum seekers protest in south Tel-Aviv, February 2, 2014 (Photo: Activestills)
Thousands of asylum seekers gathered in Levinsky Park on Saturday for a meeting in which they raised alternative measures for their next steps. One of the suggestions that came up was a march to Jerusalem and demonstration in front of the Knesset, but according to the asylum seekers, “Jerusalem Municipality’s unreasonable demands prevented that.”
The activists stated that the protest will continue to be non-violent and that women and children are to participate in future demonstrations. “While members of the community continue to be arrested and detained in the Holot detention facility in the Negev for an unlimited time, we will stay in Levinsky Park until further notice in order to express our deep shock from the government’s heartlessness, and its shirking of Israel’s international commitments,” the protestors said.
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