July 14: Occupy Israel

Daphne Leef pitched a tent on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv on this date in 2011 to protest skyrocketing housing costs in the city, where rents had doubled in the past five years. The news of her protest, as Rabbi Amy Klein reported in Jewish Currents, “spread quickly on Facebook, and within weeks there were one hundred and twenty protest encampments in cities from the north to the south, including in Arab towns, to object to the high cost of everything.” In addition to the tent cities, Israel was rocked by one-day demonstrations in which hundreds of thousands participated. The movement was precipitated by the successful “cottage cheese protests” of June, 2011, which succeeded at forcing down the prices of certain of Israel’s staple foods. Israel, observes Klein, is the poorest “Western” country “by nearly all measurements, with twenty-five percent of the population living under the poverty line with income under 5,000 shekels (about $1,300) per month, and the middle class moving toward a socio-economic standard of Western poverty.” To see an interview with Daphne Leef, click here.
“My generation grew up with the feeling that we were alone in the world. . . . living in a race we have no chance of winning, that we mustn’t rely on anyone else. They taught us that it’s either you or him. . . . The fact that this generation – the loneliest and most withdrawn generation – stood up and did something is nothing short of a miracle.” —Daphne Leef