Three and a half years after the social protest encampment in Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard packed away its tents, the so-called "Second Social Protest" has now been set up in the city's thoroughfare.
The tents were set up in the summer of 2011 to protest the housing crisis and anger at the absence of affordable housing. Now two weeks before the March 17 elections, and following last week's State Comptroller's report slamming government policy on housing, the first tents have appeared in Rothschild Boulevard.
The Facebook page of the new social protest has been set up by protester Shay Cohen under the headline, "I'm 40 and I don't own an apartment." He writes, "If you still have the hope that something in this country can change, if you too have no choice but for something in this country to change, leave everything and come to Rothschild. We're fighting for our home."
Hundreds of young people have come to Rothschild Boulevard to try and recreate the achievement of the summer of 2011, and the authorities have approved a protest there until tomorrow evening.
David Gaon a passerby said, "These look like the same young people that dreamed about peace 20 years ago and had that dream taken away from them. Now they've taken away the dream of an apartment. What are these young people guilty of? They are now 30-40 and want to buy an apartment. The prime minister is stuck on Iran and can't think about anything else."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 1, 2015
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