Human Rights March in Tel Aviv
International Human Rights Day was marked in Israel for the first time on Friday Dec 10th when thousands of people participated in a human rights march between the streets of Tel Aviv. A concert and a rally concluded the event in front of Rabin square.
Organized by human rights organizations, Arab rights' advocates, gay and lesbian activists, migrant workers, environmentalists and feminists, the event conquered the heart of the city and sent a clear political signal to the Israeli politicians.
“The event was meant to protest the continuing erosion of democracy in Israel and the lack of equal rights for many of the country's citizens”, said Haaretz, the major English newspaper in the country.
“We are demanding the safeguard of civil liberties and human rights”, said Loren a 23-years-old Israeli activist. From her point of view the civil liberties in Israel are recently under the pression of radical religious and right-wing groups with a big influence on the Israeli government.
Fatima is a 22-years-old Palestinian girl living in Tamra, a small Arab village in the north of Israel, between Haifa and Nazareth. “Since I was born the Israeli society call me ‘Israeli-Arab’ and tells me I am a fully Israeli citizen, but the truth is that the category ‘Israeli-Arab’ is artificial, it does not exists”, she said.
“My parents are Palestinian, my grandparents are Palestinian, I am Palestinian. Because my family lives here since centuries, and because I am a citizen of this country I don’t want to be a second-class citizen. I want my rights to be respected”, continued angry.
At the march were also present big representatives of Somali and Darfurian refugees. “No job means no money, no food, no house. How can we live in this conditions?”, asked Mark, a 35-years-old Somali refugee.
“I am grateful to the State of Israel that gave me the opportunity to stay here, but my refugee status is often questioned by the authorities. Fortunately here none wants to kill me [like happens in Somalia] but my life style is not really different from before”, continued.
The protest was also organized against the waves of racism that are recently moving the Israeli society, in particular in relation to the open letter signed by many rabbis that invites Jewish believers to not sell or rent their real estate to non-Jewish people.
At the end of the rally, Sami Michael, president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said: "We are all survivors of a damned century. A century of wars and blood. We are here in order to emphasize that we all belong to the human race. We are here to fight for human rights and we will always be here in order to secure a civil and fair society".
Article published by Digital Journal on December 22nd 2010.
