info@maki.org.il
Social
activists joined OneVoice Israel on Tuesday in Tel Aviv to draw the
inextricable link between calls for social justice and demands for resolving
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to end occupation.
Hundreds
congregated in Rothschild Boulevard around a massive ice wall, symbolizing
the "freeze" in peace talks and containing posters with information
on dozens of under-funded social programs in Israel, while the government
bleeds money toward conflict management over resolution. "In life there
is no status quo, if you don't move forward you go backwards," said MK
Dov Khenin (Hadash). "The government of Netanyahu speaks of two states,
but acts on a daily basis to make this solution harder. The price? It's not
only for the Palestinians, we too are paying greatly."
 The ice wall on Rothschild Boulevard (Photo: OneVoice)
"Our
social needs are being frozen along with the peace process," said Tal
Harris OneVoice Israel executive director. "People forgot over the last
20 years that the peace process impacts their day-to-day life. We want to remind
them of the need to freeze settlements and end the conflict once and for all
by committing to serious negotiations." The government's defense budget
ballooned to $14.5 billion in 2012, much of it to maintain the occupation,
while education and health suffer serious deficits. Israeli taxpayers have so
far bankrolled the occupation and settlement of Palestinian land to the tune
of $50 billion while struggling to make ends meet.
Singers
Noa (Achinoam Nini) and Mira Awad, MKs Khenin, Avishay Braverman, Nitzan
Horowitz, Akram Hasoon and Raleb Majadele, and former Ambassadors Ilan
Baruch, Alon Liel and Daniel Shek, among others, participated in the event.
OneVoice
is an international grassroots movement that aims to "amplify the voice
of Israeli and Palestinian moderates, empowering them to demand a two-state
solution. The movement educates and trains Israeli and Palestinian youth in
leadership skills, non-violent activism, and democratic principles."
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