Leaders of the protest issued a statement with the main principles behind the struggle for social justice

9 August 2011, Communist Party of Israel המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית http://maki.org.il

Leaders of the tent city protest, along with student leadership and representatives of social organizations and youth groups, issued a joint statement yesterday (Monday) presenting the main principles behind the struggle for social justice.

(Last Saturday protest in Tel-Aviv (Photo: Activestills)

The Vision Document, is titled a "Framework of investment for a new socio-economic agenda". It was distributed among the protest tent cities throughout Israel for comments.

"For a number of decades, the various governments of Israel have opted for an economic policy of privatization that leaves the free market without reins," the document states. "This economic policy, which is presented by those who lead it as precise science and as necessitated by circumstances, has become our daily existence - a war for survival to subsist with dignity."

The document outlines six principles for an alliance between the state and its citizenry: minimizing social inequalities (economic, gender-based and national ) and creating social cohesion; altering the main principles of the economic system; lowering the cost of living, achieving full employment and state-imposed price controls on basic items; giving a clear priority to the areas on the outskirts of cities, both in the social and the geographic sense; treating the essential needs of the working class families in the country, with an emphasis on the handicapped, the elderly and the sick; investment by the state in its citizenry in the fields of education, health and personal safety, and providing genuine solutions to the housing shortage, from transportation to public infrastructure.

Retirees demonstrated in Tel-Aviv
Hundreds of retirees demonstrated yesterday in front of the government compound in Tel Aviv in solidarity with the social protesters. They carried signs that read, "Pensioners demand social justice," and "Bibi, go home."

Joined in the demonstration by youth groups carrying red flags, the final speaker summed it up: "Solidarity between us and the young generation is what will determine this social campaign in the land."

"Senior citizens are against privatization," another speaker declared. "Privatization chucked 40-45-year-old workers to the streets. The government's policy will rob our children and grandchildren of their livelihood. One protestor said: "We worked for 30 years and can't help our kids. Where is the justice in that? Where is the government?" Also joining the tent city on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv yesterday were Holocaust survivors and taxi drivers.