An Israeli man, Moshe Sliman (52) was rushed to the hospital yesterday evening (Saturday) after he set himself on fire at the end of a march calling for social justice in central Tel Aviv. More than 10,000 people marched, marking the first anniversary of the J14 movement’s inception. After an otherwise uneventful march that culminated on Kaplan St., the distributed several copies of a typed letter, poured gasoline on himself, and torched his clothing.
Those present on the scene succeeded in extinguishing the fire before ambulances arrived and rushed him to nearby Ichilov Hospital. He was photographed eating a popsicle before being whisked away, though later reports described his condition as serious. He was later moved to the larger Tel Hashomer Hospital. The letter he distributed details his financial, housing and health difficulties, along with his anger at the state “for the humiliation that disenfranchised citizens go through day in and day out, that take from the poor and give to the rich. The State of Israel has stolen from me and robbed me, left me with nothing. I blame the State of Israel. I blame Bibi Netanyah and [Minister of Finance] Yuval Steinitz both scum for the humiliation that disenfranchised citizens go through day in and day out, that take from the poor and give to the rich.”
Israelis protest for social justice in Tel Aviv on July 14, 2012 (Photo: Activestills)
Hundreds of protesters arrived at Ichilov Hospital after hearing about the incident. Police forces prevented their entry, while filming the protesters who held signs condemning the Finance Minister Steinitz (Likud) and Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai (Labor). Protesters also remained at the site where the man lit himself on fire. Outside of Israel, the most famous recent case of self-immolation took place in Tunisia, where fruit-seller Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, helping set off the country’s uprising – and with it, the Arab Spring. MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), who also attended the demonstration, wrote on his Facebook page: “How deep is the despair of a man who is willing to set himself on fire because of economic hardship? The reality in Israel is producing increasingly more desperate people for whom the doors are closing – no home, no work and no insurance.” MK Khenin added that “our society is abandoning too many people.” Khenin called Saturday night’s incident a “terrible example.” He pledged “not to turn that pain into despair, but to turn it into anger and determination.”
Some 1000 Jews and Arabs, among them several Hadash and Communist Party activists, took part in another rally in Haifa, calling on the Israeli government to do more for social justice and spend less on occupation. Slogans included “Money for the neighborhoods, not for the settlements” and “Money for welfare, not for wars,” and “Jews and Arabs were marching side by side”. Around 2000 protesters took part in a similar event in Jerusalem, while some 500 activists rallied in Be’er Sheva. In Afula some 300 protesters also took to the streets in demand of social justice.
