Power to the people

Since my arrival in Tel Aviv, I have been to two mass rallies downtown: the first was a peace rally held at the beginning of November, on the anniversary of Yitzak Rabin's assassination; and the second, last night to support the striking teachers and university professors. Both were attended by mass crowds of people (100,000 plus) and were a mixture of rousing speeches, popular musical acts, and a show of solidarity for a common cause.

Not being one to go to rallies of any sort, it's been kind of amazing to see the power of people like that. With the roads blocked off by buses and a security perimeter set up, the streets become devoid of cars and filled with people. Considering Kikar Rabin is quite near the center of town, it's quite an operation to close down a number of major thoroughfares and re-route the buses for an entire evening. And considering we're in Israel there's always that lingering feeling, at least for me, of danger. It's events like there that a suicide bomber would target (in the US, too, people; don't feel too warm-and-cozy), yet it clearly didn't deter people from coming to support a cause they believed in on either night.

Yitzak Rabin was, at the time of his death, the Prime Minister of Israel. He had received the Nobel Peace Prize due to his work towards and signing of the Oslo Accords, which were a framework towards a Palestine/Israel peace agreement*. As these things tend to do, it angered a good number of people on both sides and, following a rally to support the Oslo Accords on 4 November 1995, Yitzak Rabin was shot and killed by a right-wing, Ultra-Orthodox Jew who felt the Oslo Accords would destroy Israel.

In the 12 years following his death, there has been an annual rally in Kikar Rabin to not only commemorate Yitzak Rabin, but also to remember his work and to continue striving for the same goals of peace. Yes, it's all a little lefty, hippy, join-hands-and-sing-songs, but I think it also serves a purpose greater than rallying the people there. It shows to the rest of the world that, regardless of what the news media may or may not say, that tens of thousands of Israelis** showed up in support of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. I have to say, it was a pretty powerful event, especially the minute of silence for PM Rabin. Ever heard 100,000 people all the sudden get really quiet? It's eerie.

The rally last night was for the teachers union. The high school teachers in Israel have been on strike for over a month and the senior university professors are, I think, hitting the one month mark about now.

The main qualm of the university professors is the lack of pay and lack of jobs. According to the highly reliable chain e-mail I got, there have been a drop of 800 positions since 2001; from 5359 to 4521. There has been a 9.7% increase in students in the same time period, and 22% decrease in the average professor's salary. I saw a sign last night that said, "30 years of teaching, 5000₪ a month". At today's exchange rate, 5000₪ = $1,261.98 or $15,143/year. Can you imagine a teacher, university or otherwise, who was close to retirement and making $15,000 a year?

The teacher's rally was attended mainly by school-age children and their parents. I guess, since they weren't going to have school the next day, why not come to the rally? Aside from the speakers, there were also musicians performing. It was mainly a line up of pop artists, though the only person I recognized was Ivri Lider. Unlike the Rabin rally, this one didn't have a sign language interpreter on the video screen, so I couldn't supplement my lack of Hebrew with my little bit of ISL to get the gist of what was being said. The Haaretz article gives a good background and can actually describe what went on, so I'd recommend that.

Speaking of strikes the coffee shop up the street from me was on strike for a few weeks as well, though theirs ended last weekend. Apparently, striking in Israel is very common. There are rumours that, if the teacher's strike isn't solved soon, it may turn into a general strike. That means no government offices, no buses, no garbage collection. There was apparently a strike of the garbage collectors a few years back, and people still talk about it. Here's hoping it doesn't get that far.

And before I forget: if you have any questions for me about Israel, or Hebrew, or my experiences or anything, send them to me! Once I get enough of them, I'll do a whole post dedicated to your questions. I'm also planning on doing a post that explains the basics of the Hebrew language, so send those questions as well to make sure I answer them. It'll be fun!

*If you don't know what I'm talking about here, I suggest Googling it. If I tried to give a full account of the entire backstory, we'd be here all day.
**Haaretz, the Israeli paper, put it at 150,000 but I think they were being generous.