Protests in Israel 2011/2012

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Demonstration in Tel Aviv on August 6, 2011

The protests in Israel 2011/2012 began in July 2011. The demonstrators advocate more social justice, in particular for easing the tension on the housing market. Content-related connections to the events of the Arab Spring have been put into the room, but they are quite loose; the protests are primarily directed against specific Israeli problems.

backgrounds

The country's social inequality is greater than in most other countries in the western world, with around a quarter of the population living below the poverty line . In addition, there are high living costs , which often even families with two full-time members can hardly afford. Housing costs, which rose by almost 40 percent between January 2009 and January 2011, are particularly hard hit, but the prices of many groceries have also risen significantly more than wages in recent years. This is attributed, among other things, to the fact that a so-called crony capitalism arose in Israel , since around 60 percent of Israeli economic capital is in the hands of 18 families. That is why there are oligarchic structures in Israel through which food prices in particular can be controlled. This led to the paradoxical situation that Israeli export items (such as olive oil) are more expensive in Israel than in the respective importing countries.

Already in June 2011, after calls on the Internet, there was a spontaneous boycott of cottage cheese - which is considered a staple food in Israel - the price of which had previously risen by 40 percent within three years. A law passed shortly thereafter that criminalized calls for boycotts against Israeli products was heavily criticized as it was seen as a symbol of a progressive erosion of democracy in favor of nationalist interests.

In addition, strikes by several occupational groups for better pay and better working conditions took place in 2011.

The strong support given to the Israeli settlements in the areas occupied by Israel is also viewed critically. According to estimates by an Israeli think tank, well over a billion dollars per year are spent here on social benefits, infrastructure development, military security and other benefits, with a national budget of almost 70 billion dollars. A settler receives on average twice as much money from the state as a resident of the Israeli heartland, reported the Israeli politician Haim Ramon . This can partly be explained by the high proportion of ultra-Orthodox Jews among the settlers who spend several years studying the Torah without doing any work. In addition, the birth rate among this population group is above average, which, in addition to state payments, also allows the settlements to grow.

Relation to the Arab Spring

While the demonstrations in Israel can mainly be traced back to country-specific problems that are very different from the problems in other countries, the demonstrators nonetheless refer to the Arab Spring. In 2011, for example, posters in the tent city in Tel Aviv said: “Rothschild is our Tahrir Square ”. A co-organizer of the protests said the events in Tahrir Square "suddenly made people realize that power is in the hands of the people and that you have to take the history of your country into your own hands."

Development of the protests

Tent city on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv on July 25, 2011
Demonstration in Tel Aviv on August 27, 2011

The protests began in Tel Aviv on July 14, 2011 after filmmaker Daphni Leef was given notice of the apartment and she could not find new affordable accommodation. She decided to pitch her tent on the median of Rothschild Boulevard and wrote on Facebook: “I don't have an apartment, can't afford one and I go to demonstrate in a tent on Rothschild Boulevard. Who is taking part? ”Several hundred demonstrators joined in within a week. At the beginning of August, the tent city had reached a length of 1.5 kilometers.

On July 24th, 20,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv for affordable housing. Two days later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to create 10,000 student dormitories and incentives to build 50,000 affordable apartments within two years. However, the demonstrations continued to grow, and by July 30, over 100,000 people took to the streets across the country. In addition to rents, other problems, such as deterioration in health care and the education system, were increasingly addressed. The Histadrut union supported the demonstrators and announced a general strike. The following day, Netanyahu set up a team of experts to deal with the crisis. As early as August 3rd, the Knesset passed a law aimed at removing bureaucratic hurdles in building planning. The protesters feared that this would mainly promote luxury buildings, but not affordable housing.

In August the demonstrations grew to between 200,000 and 350,000 participants, making it the largest protest movement in four decades. In addition to Tel Aviv, rallies were held in many other cities. Even Arab Israelis joined the demonstrations.

Demonstration in Tel Aviv on September 3, 2011
Demonstration in Tel Aviv on September 3, 2011

For the 3rd September, a demonstration under the title was marching million ( march of a million ) announced. At the largest demonstration in Israeli history, between 300,000 and 500,000 demonstrators took to the streets in Tel Aviv, and another 150,000 nationwide.

On September 6, the Tel Aviv city council distributed leaflets stating that the tent cities should be cleared by the Jewish New Year festival of Rosh Hashanah . Contrary to previous agreements, tents were removed by city employees and police the following night, although many of them were inhabited. The mayor of Tel Aviv replied that it was not a question of demolition, but of clean-up work.

The protests have very strong popular support. According to a survey by the newspaper Haaretz , 87 percent of the Israeli population would support the protests, and more than half of those questioned were not satisfied with the government's reactions. According to another poll, 85 percent of Netanyahu's Likud Party supporters supported the protests.

Demands of the protesters

The movement began with demands for affordable housing, but within a short period of time more general demands for a reduction in the cost of living and social justice emerged.

It is seen as problematic that the groups involved form a very broad spectrum of content and therefore do not appear uniformly in their demands. Ari Shavit from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said: "If another social group joins the protests, their demands are simply attached to the others."

Political demands, for example for a respectful coexistence with Arabs and Bedouins as well as for the end of the settlement construction, were made at demonstrations. However, the organizers largely avoid such topics as they fear the movement will break apart.

Violent escalation in 2012

During protests in Tel Aviv on June 23, 2012, the police and the demonstrators broke out for the first time, with more than 80 people arrested. The police spoke of an illegal and unauthorized demonstration. About 6500 people gathered in the city center for a rally that evening under the motto “Emergency protest - return power to the people!”, With participants blocking a central Tel Aviv artery and the city motorway. Other participants broke into three bank branches. The day before, the police arrested one of the leaders of the protest, Daphni Leef, and twelve other members when they tried with several hundred other demonstrators to set up protest tents on central Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv.

Further protests in July and August

In the second half of July 2012, two Israelis died after setting themselves on fire during the protests. According to the Israeli police, 8,000 people took part in the protests on July 15. At the beginning of August, the Israeli government decided to increase VAT, which in turn sparked protests. Currently this is 18%.

Web links

Commons : Protests in Israel 2011  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Richard C. Schneider: Live - or go down. (H.264 / MPEG4 or Ogg / Theora) In: Video blog "Between the Mediterranean and Jordan". tagesschau.de, August 7, 2011, archived from the original on September 27, 2011 ; Retrieved September 3, 2011 .
  2. ↑ a b Gil Yaron: Israel and the "Arab Spring". (PDF; 1.9 MB) Domestic Policy Consequences. In: From Politics and Contemporary History . Federal Agency for Civic Education, September 26, 2011, pp. 35ff., 39f. , accessed on September 25, 2011 (No. 39/2011).
  3. ↑ a b Die Zeit: 100,000 vs. Netanyahu July 31, 2011, accessed September 3, 2011
  4. ↑ a b c d Die Zeit : Israel's silent majority rebel August 1, 2011, accessed on September 3, 2011
  5. ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics: Development of Housing Costs in Israel (1994–2011) July 2011, accessed September 7, 2011
  6. ↑ Central Bureau of Statistics: Development of Food Prices in Israel (2002–2011) July 2011, accessed September 7, 2011; Central Bureau of Statistics: Development of wages in Israel compared to 2004 July 2011, accessed September 7, 2011
  7. ↑ Focus on the Middle East The bomb is ticking.
  8. ^ Nathan Jeffay: A Soft Food Falls on Hard Times. Israeli Anger Rises and Falls With the Price of Cottage Cheese. forward.com, June 28, 2011, accessed September 3, 2011 .
  9. ^ Richard C. Schneider: "Left groups should be silenced". (H.264 / MPEG4 or Ogg / Theora) In: Video blog "Between the Mediterranean and Jordan". tagesschau.de, July 18, 2011, archived from the original on July 19, 2011 ; Retrieved September 3, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Al Jazeera Deutsch: Israelis hold 'march of a million' protest September 3, 2011, accessed September 4, 2011
  11. ^ Al Jazeera Deutsch: Will the Israeli left talk about occupation? August 9, 2011, accessed September 7, 2011
  12. ↑ CIA: The World Factbook Israel Budget Estimate for 2010, accessed September 7, 2011
  13. ↑ 20 minutes : Distribution problems. Is Israel opening Pandora's box? August 6, 2011, accessed September 7, 2011
  14. ↑ a b Spiegel Online: Wrath of the Middle Class Hits Netanyahu July 27, 2011, accessed on September 3, 2011
  15. ^ Al Jazeera Deutsch : Israeli protesters reject new housing bill August 3, 2011, accessed September 5, 2011
  16. ↑ Spiegel Online: Hundreds of thousands demonstrate for social justice August 7, 2011, accessed on September 5, 2011
  17. ↑ tagesschau.de: Protests reach Israel's smaller cities ( Memento from October 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) August 13, 2011, accessed on September 3, 2011
  18. ^ A b Andreas Hackl: Protests in Israel: "Neither lazy nor spoiled". taz.de , August 14, 2011, accessed on August 14, 2011 .
  19. ^ A b Al Jazeera Deutsch: Mass rallies revive Israeli protest movement September 4, 2011, accessed September 4, 2011; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : Mass demonstrations for social justice September 4, 2011
  20. ↑ Haaretz: Tel Aviv officials call to dismantle tent protest camps by jewish holidays September 6, 2011, accessed September 7, 2011
  21. ^ Haaretz: Israel Police raid social protest tent encampments in Tel Aviv September 7, 2011, accessed September 7, 2011
  22. ↑ Haaretz: Haaretz poll: Netanyahu losing public support over handling of Israeli housing protest July 26, 2011, accessed September 5, 2011
  23. ↑ סקר: 85% ממצביעי הליכוד ו -78% מש"ס - תומכים במחאה החברתית. Nana 10, August 2, 2011, accessed September 3, 2011 (Hebrew).
  24. ^ New Germany : Israel's Social Protests at the Crossroads September 3, 2011, accessed on September 6, 2011
  25. ^ Serious riots: New social protest in Israel escalates from Spiegel Online , June 24, 2012 (accessed June 24, 2012); Sebastian Engelbrecht: Riots during demonstration in Tel Aviv: Social protests turned into violence for the first time ( memento from June 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) at tagesschau.de, June 24, 2012 (accessed on June 24, 2012).
  26. ↑ Social unrest Second Israeli dies after Selbstanzündung at handelsblatt.com, August 1, 2012 (accessed 4 August 2012); Protests in Israel Thousands demonstrate against social injustice at Süddeutsche.de, July 15, 2012 (accessed August 4, 2012).
  27. ↑ http://www.die-mehrwertsteuer.de/de/uebersicht-steuersaetze.html