Social Justice movement calls for nationwide strike

Activists say strike will follow "massive demonstration to call on the prime minister one last time to answer the demands of the people."

By BEN HARTMAN
Protest leaders Dafni Leef, Stav Shafir 311 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Protest leaders Dafni Leef, Stav Shafir 311
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Activists from the social justice protest movement on Tuesday called for a nationwide “peoples strike,” to begin on November 1, arguing that their demands are not being addressed by the government.
In a statement released on Monday, leaders identified with the movement said the strike would follow a mass protest on October 29, in which “the masses will take to the streets in a massive demonstration to call on the prime minister one last time to answer the demands of the people.”
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The press release said the movement will work over the coming two weeks to recruit as many citizens, businesses, organizations and social institutions as possible to take part in the strike.
Tel Aviv resident Daphni Leef, widely viewed as an unofficial leader of the movement, is quoted in the statement as saying “for three months we have shouted and no one there [in the government] is listening… three months of a justified protest – a demand for social justice. We have power, and on the 1st of November, 2011, we will show that we have power and we can stand up and go on strike.”
In the statement, members of the movement repeated their call for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to scrap the 2012 national budget, and work on drafting a new “social budget” for 2012.