Aussie expats seek social change
THREE Australian expats have joined the social protests sweeping Israel to try to create a more equitable society.
THREE Australian expats have joined the social protests sweeping Israel to try to create a more equitable society.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis continue to take to the streets and camp out in the centre of big Israeli cities to protest at the cost of living, particularly when compared with salaries.
Kate Rosenberg, 26, made aliyah three years ago from Melbourne. Together with other newcomers, she set up a tent in Tel Aviv as part of the wave of protests.
Rosenberg and her partner both work fulltime, but she said with wages low and prices high, saving money was a luxury. “People live in minus [debt] every month,” she said. “There is a stoic, sparse attitude.”
To illustrate her point, when she arrived in Israel, she worked in retail for 100 shekels a day (about $27). Her sister, working in retail in Australia, earnt $150 a day.
“The things cost the same here as they do in Australia,” she told The AJN.
Physiotherapist David Borowski, 27, made aliyah in October. Last week, the Tel Aviv resident set up a protest tent on Rothschild Boulevard.
“I didn’t make aliyah to watch from the sidelines, and wanted to be part of this movement,” he said.
He said the biggest social issues facing Israel were the ongoing doctors strike caused by what he saw as “insulting pay”; a lack of options to live outside the main cities and still make a decent living; curbs on social freedoms; and, “the fact that saving money is seen as a privilege not a right in Israel, meaning it is out of reach for most Israelis to buy a house”.
He believes the Netanyahu government cannot ignore the protest movement. “You only have to walk through Tel Aviv or any of the other tent cities around Israel and see the passion of the protesters to understand that a spark has been ignited that won’t diminish any time soon.”
For Michael Densham, 23, watching the protests has given him cause for hope. The Australian expat said the demonstrations had made him realise that “equality, liberty and social responsibility” were still important values for young Israelis.
Densham is involved in the social movement Dror Israel, which tries to pursue the ideals of Zionism’s founders by living collectively and by promoting education as a driver of social change.
Rosenberg’s solution for improvement is a long way from a kibbutz and promoting education. Getting more Arab-Israelis and Orthodox Jews
into the workforce was the key to a more equitable and prosperous Israel, she said.
She added changes to the Israeli taxation system, so that the wealthy paid more and the middle class carried a fairer burden, are also important.
NAOMI LEVIN
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