Tents, Cottage Cheese and Social Protests in Israel - 04 August 2011

"I'm certainly not surprised by the way the protests have spread. My only surprise is that it has taken so long for people to take action," said Haim Bar-Yaakov, Founder and Director of NIF grantee Life With Dignity, which promotes housing rights for Israelis. "I know it's irritating to say I told you so, but the message we have been saying for years has finally hit home."

As you may be aware, Israel has seen a wave of social protests over the last two weeks. What started as a small tented student-led demonstration in Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard about the costs of housing has grown to be a nationwide demonstration. On Saturday there were approximately 150,000 demonstrating on the costs of living and there are now more than 40 similar encampments across the country. The demonstrations have been spontaneous and have seen a cross-section of Israeli society participate (Jews and Arabs, religious and secular, left and right). The issues the demonstrators are addressing have also widened – today alone there are separate demonstrations on fuel costs, costs of raising children and education.

No-one knows what will happen next, but these demonstrations are arguably an optimistic moment. They give a feeling of a new social movement and crucially that the younger generation, who are driving this movement, are not giving up on Israel as their country.

Whilst New Israel Fund is not behind these demonstrations we are proud to be providing some support – both material and moral. More substantially, we are proud of our leadership and investments in recent years in addressing affordable housing and many other social issues. Unfortunately, despite Israel’s economic growth over the past decade, poverty and economic disparity in Israel remains a challenge, with nearly one in four residents living below the poverty line.

In 2009, NIF set up the Coalition for Affordable Housing. We also support organisations working on a range of social and economic issues – from employment opportunities for marginalised communities through to better access to education and health services. NIF will be highlighting over the coming months some of these social issues and our work supporting Israelis who are working to address the challenges. For example the focus of our 2011 Human Rights Awards Dinner will be on social and economic justice – celebrating Israelis dedicated to tackling poverty.

For more on the social protests, see my blog ‘Why so little interest in social protests in Israel’