Several hundred people in central Tel Aviv mounted on Friday their most determined attempt yet to resuscitate the social justice protests of last summer. This time, the woman who sparked those demonstrations – Daphni Leef – attempted to once again plant a tent on Rothschild Boulevard, where it all began. But this year, the municipality, which largely sought to appease and contain the protesters last summer, was equally determined to refuse the protesters so much as a foothold. A cocktail of police and municipal inspectors first told the crowd that every tent that was placed on the ground would be confiscated and destroyed; the protesters resorted to carrying the tents on their shoulders, taking shifts to keep them aloft. Indeed, scattered attempts into Friday evening to set up tents were met with immediate police response, with officers and municipal inspectors pouncing on and confiscating the tents.
Israeli police and municipality officers confiscate a tent, during a protest in Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, June 22, 2012. Israeli polices arrested 11 activists, after hundreds gathered in Tel Aviv in an attempt to open a tents camp (Photo: Activestills)
Leef herself, who in an interview to Israeli media yesterday said she hoped Tel Aviv’s Labor Party mayor, Ron Huldai, would not use force, was violently arrested by nearly a dozen riot police officers. One eyewitness on the ground said that Leef was “beaten, dragged on the ground from one side of the boulevard to the other, and shoved into a police van.” This could mark a change in dynamic between protesters and the police, who were relatively tolerant toward each other in last year’s protests. Then, protesters were keen to reach out to the undertrained and underpaid police officers, who are banned from forming any kind of union under Israeli law. Leef and 11 other people were arrested during the rally. The crowd tried to stop the police from detaining her. They were released overnight on restricted terms and were expected to face charges. Leef’s lawyer said that the protest leader was wounded during her arrest.
Social justice activists, among them Hadash and Communist Party of Israel members, are planning a march in Tel Aviv this evening, Saturday, at 9:00 PM, in which they would also protest the police behavior and the arrests of demonstrators. MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) has demanded an investigation of the excessive use of force against protesters in Tel Aviv today. He posted a status on the Facebook page in which he blamed the right-wing government for the treatment of protesters.
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Social activists returned to Rothschild boulevard city inspector confiscate tents
