More than 200 people, mostly residents of the south and the border with Gaza, marched Saturday night in Tel Aviv from Rabin Square to Rokach Boulevard and protested against what they called a "weak cabinet that does not try to solve the problem of a fifth of the area of the state of Israel. "The demonstrators called on the government to find a long-term solution at the border with Gaza and not to leave it with" breaks between rounds "of fighting.
The protest was organized by a group that called itself the Qasam generation, which was established during the fighting in Gaza in 2014, along with other groups from the area near the Gaza border. They were joined by a group of weekly protests against government corruption on Habima Square. The organizers, who attached dozens of balloons with fireworks and flown during the demonstration, said they wanted the protest to be unrelated to a political party.
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The protests were launched last week when a group of about 100 Gaza border residents gathered at the Shalom junction in Tel Aviv.
Moti Milrod One of the organizers, Ido Ben-Yosef , 28 of Kfar Aza told Haaretz: "I have been living in the kibbutz for 18 years, I have moved with my parents from Ashkelon. We are citizens, not necessarily left or right, religious or secular. There are many things here, we are simpl y a group of citizens whose quality of life is constantly war with small breaks. We can not bear this situation. We want complete rest. "
Ben-Josef says he knows that there is no magic solution. "But we think the government does not take it seriously to find a solution, but the government has tried two things in the past 17 years: ceasefire and operations, why do we keep trying the same things?
Nitza Nakan, who has lived in the Negev city of Sderot for the last 17 years, told Haaretz: "For years we were so nice, we gave them opportunities, we came to the Knesset, but we were nice and nobody cared about us. there are about tens of thousands of people who can not live silently, it is Hamas who is in charge of our lives and the government is dancing to its rhythm, and there is not a single government that is prepared to choose a long-term solution. "
The demonstrators called for "equality and security" and held signs that read: "We are not cannon fodder." They sounded a siren every few dozen meters and crashed to the ground in a protected position that simulates their actions during a rocket attack.
The Facebook page of the organizers said that the inhabitants of the south are no longer silent. "The government of Israel has stunned the inhabitants of the south for years with economic benefits, tax reductions, national priority zone … that's just part of what they've injected us to keep things and people quiet. we will understand that we are addicted We will be amazed at how we were sitting and letting them do what they wanted How is it that we are not all risen and say that we take responsibility for our lives and our region. "
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