Tens of thousands marching in Tel Aviv for 'social justice'

Protests for affordable housing, taking place in ten cities across the country; 4,000 protesters in J'lem marching to Netanyahu's residence, chant: "We want social justice, not charity."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Housing protest in Tel Aviv 311 (photo credit: Channel 10)
Housing protest in Tel Aviv 311
(photo credit: Channel 10)
Ten protests across the country calling for "social justice" began Saturday night, the largest of which was a march in Tel Aviv, mirroring a protest that took place one week ago with some 20,000 participants.
While thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv began marching from Tel Aviv's Habima Square, the epicenter of weeks-long tent protests for affordable housing, protests were taking place as far north as Kiryat Shmona and Haifa, in Jerusalem, and as far south as Beersheba and Ashkelon. Other protesters took to the streets in Ashdod, Modi'in, Ra'anana and Nazareth.
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Last Saturday, some 20,000 people answered a call by the protesters who have been living in tents on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard for over two weeks now, initially organized to protest the high cost of housing.
The housing protests, however, have since turned into a wider call for social justice. Organizers promised that they would expand on their specific demands in the protest Saturday at a rally to take place outside the Tel Aviv Museum.
In Jerusalem, at least 4,000 protesters set out on a march from the central Ben Yehuda pedestrian promedane through Kikar Zion toward Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's official residence, chanting slogans calling for a social justice. Among the chants shouted by protesters, was, "We want social justice, not charity."
 In Haifa, some 8,000 people turned out for a similar march, police estimated.
Speaking with Channel 2, organizers in Tel Aviv said they were happy with the turnout, saying that they would remain in Habima Square "as long as it takes."
Jonah Mandel contributed to this report