Tel Aviv begins dismantling tent camps of housing protesters

Tel Aviv begins dismantling tent camps of housing protesters

2011-09-07 23:41:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEL AVIV (BNO NEWS) -- Municipal clean-up teams on Wednesday began dismantling tent camps which were set up by housing protesters throughout the Israeli city of Tel Aviv to protest the high cost of living, local media reported.

City clerks disassembled all uninhabited tents and removed unclaimed items and belongings throughout the campsites, according to the Jerusalem Post. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai defended the city's decision to begin dismantling the tent cities, saying that the campsites "could not become a permanent fixture."

According to the mayor, residents in nearby apartments have complained about the campsites, saying that the area had become dirty and had brought problems and "rats." "We're not evicting people," Huldai clarified, "we are taking away tents that are already empty."

Meanwhile, tent-city leaders slammed the Tel Aviv municipality and Huldai in a statement for beginning to dismantle the four major campsites after publicly promising the day before that the city had no intention of evicting the activists. On Tuesday, the Tel Aviv municipality told tent city residents across town that they have until the end of the month to dismantle their campsites.

Tent-city spokesman Roy Neuman said in a statement that "inspectors arrived in the cover of darkness - as in a covert military operation - in order to strike the largest social protest in the history of the country, as if activists were enemies of the state and not law-abiding citizens." He added that some tents were removed even though activists were still residing there, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Activists had set up "tent cities" for the last two months to protest surging real-estate prices and the housing shortage. Protesters took to the streets on an almost weekly basis to protest the high cost of living and demand social justice.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday promised to make significant social changes after more than 400,000 people took part in the biggest demonstration in Israel's history.

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