Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the access route to the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem today (Monday) morning in protest of high housing rates. “The people demand social justice,” they chanted. As they clashed with police officers, the protestors proclaimed “They’re also with us, they have no apartments.”  Five protestors were arrested and one police officer was lightly hurt. The protestors were trying to build a brick wall to block the road.

The demonstrators build a fake brick wall and use their tents to block the entrance to the Knesset, representing the “impenetrable wall” that the government has put around affordable housing. The gesture is intended to symbolically prevent Knesset members from attending a vote on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s National Housing Committee Law.

The police against the protesters in Tel-Aviv, Saturday night (Photo: Activestills)

Following the recent success of the massive Saturday night protest in Tel-Aviv against housing prices, the “tent protest” has reached Jerusalem. Two thousand people marched towards the Knesset yesterday (Sunday night), in protest of the housing prices. The protestors, carrying signs with slogans that read: “Welfare State now” and “Bread and apartments are not luxuries,” said they were planning to move the demonstration area to the Knesset.

The activists were calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign and demand significant action be taken to reduce housing prices. The protestors, who caused major traffic disruptions in the capital, called out: “The police are with us, they don’t have apartments”, “Get off your balcony the country is angry” , “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enough, the price is too heavy,” “The nation demands equality,” “The answer to privatization – revolution” and “how will we live in the holy city?”

The protestors were joined by activists from the housing protest encampment which was erected last week in Jerusalem, activists from Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel) and Solidarity Sheikh Jarrah group.

On their way, the protesters passed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence and tried to block a nearby street while calling on Netanyahu to resign. They were consequently scattered by police forces and continued marching to the Knesset.

The protesters, who caused serious traffic disruptions in central Jerusalem, chanted slogans and held signs such as “The People Demand Social Justice” and “Welfare State Now.”  On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched (70,000 according to “Maariv” daily newspaper) in downtown Tel Aviv, the first major demonstration in a movement calling attention to Israel’s soaring cost of living.  The march followed the “tent city” protests that had erupted throughout Israel, in which mainly young people moved into tents in cities such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva Haifa, Sderot and Kiryat Shmona to protest housing prices.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/activestills

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