Moshe Silman, 57, who had set himself ablaze at a demonstration in the city of Tel Aviv on Saturday night, had struggled for his life after suffering extensive burns and died yesterday, Friday, at Tel Hashomer Hospital.
In a letter he read out before setting himself on fire, Silman blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli neo-liberal government for “stealing” from him and leaving him “with nothing.” At last week’s rally, just minutes before he set himself on fire, the 57-year-old Haifa resident distributed a letter explaining why he had no choice but to set himself alight: “The State of Israel has stolen from me and robbed me, left me with nothing and the Tel Aviv District Court blocked me from getting justice.” He went on to blame the state for his downfall and specifically Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. Silman also highlighted how he was consistently turned down for public housing, as he did not fit the criteria.
Social activist mourns at the spot Israeli Moshe Silman set himself on fire last Saturday, hours after he was announced dead in Tel Aviv (Photo: Activestills)
Of course, after Silman set himself alight, Netanyahu and other government officials were quick to respond. But did the prime minister’s well-wishes fall short of fully understanding the scope of social protests in Israeli when he referred to Silman’s “great personal tragedy.”
In fact, the depth of the country’s social problems was exposed clearly on Tuesday when hundreds of people waiting to be assigned public housing showed up for a pre-planned meeting of the Knesset Lobby for Public Housing and the Forum for Public Housing headed by MK Dov Khenin (Hadash). As the meeting turned stormy, with people sharing their personal stories of depravation and degradation in trying to beat the poverty trap or even just survive within it, Silman’s desperation seemed to echo throughout the room.
Yesterday night some 100 people gathered on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv near the site where Silman set himself on fire at a social justice protest last week, in memorial of the 57-year-old who succumbed to his wounds earlier in the day. Other protests where held in Jerusalem, Haifa and Naharyia. Today night will be more demonstrations in Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and other cities.
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