More than 400,000 Israelis took to the streets on Saturday night to protest the country's high cost of living and to demand social justice, marking the largest demonstration in the country's history. Daphni Leef, one of the social protest movement's leaders, called it the "miracle of summer 2011." In Tel Aviv, at least 300,000 protesters attended the central demonstration, in which protesters marched from Habima Square in central Tel Aviv to Kikar Hamedina, an upscale traffic circle and park lined with luxury shops which was the site of a similar, yet failed, social protest about ten years ago. At least 40,000 demonstrators attended the rally in Jerusalem's Paris Square and surrounding streets, while thousands more attended additional demonstrations in Haifa, Afula, Kiryat Shmona, and Rosh Pina in the north and Eilat, Mitzpe Ramon and Arad in the south. The nationwide demonstrations marked the high point of the social justice protest movement, which began July 14 when Tel Aviv resident Daphni Leef and her friends pitched tents along the city's ritzy Rothschild Boulevard to protest the rising cost of housing in Israel. Leaders of the protest movement on Saturday vowed that the calls for social justice would continue. "This isn't a graduation party," one of the protest leaders said. "The public can still expect some surprises." Many saw Saturday's demonstration as a test for the social justice movement, which appeared to have fizzled in recent weeks following increased hostilities in southern Israel and areas bordering the Gaza Strip that began with an Aug. 18 terror attack perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists who entered Israel via the Sinai Peninsula and killed eight Israelis. Rocket fire into Israel and retaliatory attacks by the Israel Defense Forces followed that attack. Despite the volatile security situation, leaders of the social justice protests planned Saturday's march weeks in advance, calling it the "March of the Million," and worked to attract as many Israelis as possible to the demonstration using email, social networking, phone calls and text messages. Their goal, they said, was to sear "a picture of victory" into the minds of Israelis and their leaders that would remain long after the tents camps across the country were folded up. They also lowered expectations in days ahead of the rally about the number of attendees, saying they realized one million protesters was an unrealistic expectation but that they hoped for at least several hundred thousand. Several of the movement's leaders, including Leef and National Student Union head Itzik Shmuli, spoke at the Tel Aviv rally. "We not only want to love the state of Israel, we also want the opportunity to exist and live here in dignity and with respect," Shmuli told the crowd in his speech that has since been dubbed "The Speech of the New Israelis." Shmuli said that leaders of the protest movement are willing to negotiate with the government and its representatives, but warned them, "Don't string us along. You have doubts about whether the tents can withstand harsh winter winds, yet we promise that you will not succeed in breaking people's spirits. The tents represent the surface of the protest, but the new and determined Israelis are its core." Meanwhile, Leef, 25, told the crowd that her generation grew up believing that "We are alone, the 'other' is the enemy, and that we can't trust anyone." "This is capitalism, competition that never ends," Leef continued. "The fact that the most closed-off generation rose up and acted is the miracle of summer 2011." She added that the events of the summer had revived hope in Israeli society. "This is the great summer of the new Israeli hope that was borne of despair and alienation, of impossible gaps for us all that are almost impossible to bridge," Leef said. The Tel Aviv demonstration also featured performances by notable Israeli artists Eyal Golan, Hadag Nahash, Hayehudim and stars from the "Eretz Nehederet" ("A Wonderful Country") variety program. While thousands of rally-goers poured into Kikar Hamedina, more than 10,000 people joined the march that began at Habima Square led by former MK Charlie Biton, one of the founders of Israel's Black Panther movement that was active in the 1970s. "This is an opportunity to stop the exploitation of the public," Biton told the crowd. Emmanuel Hevroni, 25, a student and resident of Jerusalem, attended the protest in Tel Aviv and said, "Once in a generation, we have the opportunity to create a new government order and transform Israel into a more humane, just and better country for its citizens. That is why I came, with my friends, to this unique show of force." Kobi Levy, 37, a teacher from Holon, attended the demonstration with his two children. "I came here because this is an opportunity to take our rights back and create a new agenda, one that is more civic-minded and education-oriented." Yael Barnea, 48, a computer engineer who lives in Tel Aviv, said, "I earn well above the national average and I still have a hard time with the cost of living. I am convinced that many others have it much harder than I do." Protests from north to south While the Tel Aviv demonstration was by far the largest, Israelis across the nation filled the streets in droves to protest against the country's high cost of living. In Jerusalem, estimates ranged from 40,000 to 60,000 protesters, marching from Gan Hasus ("Horse Park") to the prime minister's residence. Entertainers Orna Banai and Modi Bar-On spoke at the rally in Paris Square, while singers Izhar Ashdot and Karolina and the "Ma Kashur-" comedy troupe performed. "People expect me to be funny, but I can't be tonight," Banai said. "Being a mother in Israel isn't funny. I'm not amused by the fact that the Jewish people have become the most foolish when it comes to international challenges. It's not funny that an Israeli soldier has been rotting in captivity for five years." Rachel Azaria, a Jerusalem city council member who has been active in that city's parents' protest, against the inflated cost of raising children, said, "We won't stop until we achieve a country that is based on social justice." Itai Gutler, head of Hebrew University's student union, said that the students are in the movement for the long haul. "We are in this protest until the end, so that we can bring about real change." Around 1,000 people took part in the demonstration in Eilat, including dairy farmers from some of the southern kibbutzim who attended to protest the government's plan to import dairy products to lower prices domestically. About 750 people demonstrated in Mitzpe Ramon, including renowned Israeli author Amos Oz, who called the protest "just and practical." In Haifa, at least 35,000 people took to the streets, marching from Meyerhoff Square to the German Colony. Protesters tried to prevent Mayor Yona Yahav from addressing the audience. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the north, around 7,000 people protested in the Krayot region in the Haifa Bay area, 2,000 more demonstrated in Nahariya and a similar number protested in Carmiel. Ten thousand people took part in the rally in the northern moshav of Kfar Yehoshua, 5,000 more rallied in Kiryat Shmona, a similar number hit the streets in Rosh Pina, while 8,000 people protested in Afula. Tent camps expected to be dismantled this week Following the protests on Saturday, leaders of the social justice movement said that the tent camps that have cropped up across the country would be folded this week to allow the movement to take a new shape and continue in the long-term. The protest leaders are not currently expected to form a new political party, but activists are planning to establish an extra-parliamentary organization to promote a new social-democratic economic policy. The organization is expected not only to initiate activities and demonstrations but also to formulate responses to government policy. The Tel Aviv municipality, in a continuation of what has been its policy all summer, is not planning to dismantle the tent camp along Rothschild Boulevard. "We haven't yet dismantled any of the tents, nor are we planning to," a source at City Hall told Israel Hayom. "If the protesters want to dismantle the tents, that's fine by us. We will continue to take care of sanitation and cleanliness in the area." Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai took credit for permitting the protesters to set up camp. "I am the one who gave the permits to place tents throughout the city," Huldai said in an interview with Channel 2. "When a forest is waterlogged, nothing can set it on fire, yet when it is dry, even the smallest match can ignite a flame. Daphni Leef and the protest leaders ignited a forest that was extremely dry."
