Hadash and Anti-Occupation Movements Joins in Weekly Protest against Far-Right Gov’t

Several protests against the far-right government were held on Saturday night for the fourth straight week. Two central protests took place in Tel Aviv, one at Habima Square hosted by the Movement for Quality Government, and the other on Kaplan Street hosted by a coalition of protest groups.

Protests were also held outside of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Caesarea, outside of President Isaac Herzog’s residence in Jerusalem, and in Beersheba, Haifa, Modi’in, Herzliya, Rishon LeZion, Ramat Gan and other cities.  Despite registering a more muted tone in the wake of this weekend’s Jerusalem terror attacks, tens of thousands gather on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street. Police estimate that 40,000 people protest in Tel Aviv against the government, 70,000 according organizers.

Hadash demonstrators and Anti-Occupation Bloc activists marching at Kaplan Street in Tel-Aviv with red and Palestinian flags, Saturday, January 28, 2023 (Photo: Zo Haderech)

Red and Palestinian flags wave over Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street. Chanting “there’s no such thing as democracy and occupation,” several hundreds of left-wing Israelis of the Anti-Occupation Bloc hold court in a prominent corner. Among them, activists of Hadash, the Communist Party of Israel, Young Communist League, Peace Now, Mahsom Watch, Standing Together, Yesh Gvul, Yesh Din, Mesarvot, Women in Black, Gisha, Physicians for Human Rights, Academy for Equality and other groups.

The protests in Haifa and Be’er Sheva have ended with a showing of more than 13,000 protestors in Haifa and 2,000 protestors in Be’er Sheva, according to police estimates. Thousands of people protested in the central Israeli cities of Herzliya and Rishon LeZion.

This weekend’s protests come after Thursday, when a demonstration was held outside the Kibbutzim College in northern Tel Aviv, led by the Student Protest group, during which dozens of protesters blocked Namir Boulevard and the Rokach intersection. They called out against the far-right government’s policy and carried a banner saying: “On Saturday on Kaplan we’ll stop the dictatorship.”

Last Saturday over 130,000 people protested against the government across the country. Some 110,000 people protested on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, about 6,000 in Haifa and a few hundred participated in a demonstration in Jerusalem, the police said.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=30801