© Uriel Sinai/GettyA Tel Aviv 'tent city'. Similar areas have appeared in 40 towns across Israel, and there have been countless small demonstrations.
Grassroots campaign calling for social justice emerges in Israel as thousands protest against cost of living
Tent villages are to be pitched in up to a dozen Israeli-Arab towns on Friday as momentum behind Israel's grassroots campaign for social justice continues to build and unite disparate sections of society. Taxi drivers blocked a major road in Tel Aviv on Thursday protesting over the cost of diesel, and parents planned "stroller protests" in the early evening demanding the cost of childcare and baby equipment be reduced.
On Wednesday dairy farmers, army reservists, animal rights activists and West Bank settlers all held separate protests in Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard, the centre of the nationwide movement. In Jerusalem, protesters blocked roads leading to the Knesset (parliament). Further demonstrations have been called across the country for Saturday following last week's marches, which attracted around 150,000 people, almost unprecedented in a country with a population of 7 million.
Protesters are uniting over the high costs of housing, rearing children, fuel, electricity and food but the dominant slogan has been: "The people demand social justice."
"The protest is still growing," said Stav Shaffir, 26, one of the leaders. "Every day I get phone calls from new tent cities." Shaffir, a masters student, was one of the first to pitch a tent three weeks ago in protest at the high rents.
