Europe’s largest student union on Monday issued its support for the social
protests taking place across Israel, two days after more than 400,000 Israelis
took to the streets in the movement’s biggest series of demonstrations
yet.
“The Israeli government should listen to its people. It is clear
that they are strongly affected by the ongoing budget cuts. Too many times,
funding for the weakest in society, including students, has seen a decrease,”
Allan Pall, European Students Union Chairperson, said in a letter sent to the
Israeli government on Monday. “Students and Israeli citizens have showed the
world that a little protest against raising the rents can turn into a movement
that is demanding radical changes.”
RELATED:400,000 rally for social justice across the countryThe union also told the government it
supports the National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) “in their struggle for
social equality, for changes of the economic system and better employment and to
support the ones in need. We address the Israeli government to listen to the
voice of students on the streets and react by engaging to find
solutions.”
The European Students’ Union is an umbrella organization that
encompasses 45 national student unions from across the continent and includes
the NUIS as well. Though it was not involved in launching the protest movement,
the NUIS has played a crucial role in organizing protests and tent cities across
the country, and the NUIS Chairman Itzik Shmuli has become one of the most
prominent faces of the movement.
