The Haifa Municipality's arbitrary decision to stop issuing permits for the march and demonstration, which have been organized for more than three years by People's protest in Haifa, is an outrageous and foolish decision. This decision succeeded, to its detriment, in rekindling the spirit of the protesters, who arrived in their thousands last Saturday – and it is clearly contrary to the spirit and soul of Haifa.
• Further down in the article you will find a letter from four city dignitaries to Mr. Yona Yahav demanding that the decision to stop the protest at Horev Junction be changed.
Liberalism and the pursuit of understanding and reconciliation
The mayor and many others often boast about Haifa being a city of tolerance, coexistence between all elements of society, liberality, and the pursuit of understanding and reconciliation. People's protest in Haifa Reflecting these values, it has been three years of determined and impressive struggle against the regime revolution, against the erosion of democracy in Israel, and against the government's depraved actions.
At its peak, the Haifa protest brought tens of thousands of demonstrators, and was also directly involved in the city council elections, demonstrating support for any candidate belonging to the democracy camp and the coexistence between ethnicities and movements in the city. Yona Yahav himself was also photographed at one of the demonstrations, cheering the crowd that elected him mayor the next day.
Freedom of protest and freedom of expression
The march did cause half of the Moriah Highway to be blocked for about fifteen minutes in each section, in one direction, and the Horev Intersection was closed for an average of an hour and a half. Even if this affected neighbors, residents, and drivers, it was a proportionate and reasonable violation in terms of balance against the public interest in protecting freedom of protest and freedom of expression, specifically in Haifa.
The mayor should have contacted the organizers.
Above all – even if anyone who believed that this was a heavy burden on the public, should have contacted the organizers and worked with them to find a prominent and central alternative location. This is despite the fact that Horev Junction has already become a national brand, and is widely spoken of not only in Haifa.
The arbitrariness with which this long tradition was stopped is worrying, especially as other events in Haifa have also begun to suffer from the restrictions. This was at a time when a major article in Haaretz newspaper prompted the mayor to publish a response boasting about Haifa's unique spirit and freedom of expression. So what prompted such a decision? Who was consulted? How does this fit in with the mayor's article just a week earlier?
Yahav solutions – and also the ability to change. The sign "Yahav, a rotten chicken" reflected the anger towards the person this square elected.
Four recipients of the Yakir Ha'ir award signed a letter to Yona Yahav
Therefore, four of the recipients of the 2015 Yakir Ha'ir Award have joined forces to write the attached appeal to the mayor, signed by Prof. Peretz Lavie, Dr. Eitan Adras, Mr. Gad Ze'evi and Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi. We seek to be the darlings of a democratic city, founded on freedom and expression, freedom of protest and preservation of the protest tradition of the last three years. We call on the mayor to speak – and not to dismiss, to embrace – and not to push away the multitude of people who seek to express their position every week with unprecedented determination.
Sit down with the protest organizers, Yona, and implement what you wrote about and fought for all your life.
Letter from a city philanthropist to Yona Yahav:
In honor of the Mayor – Mr. Yona Yahav,
Greetings,
Subject: Call to cancel the decision not to allow demonstrations at Moriah Street Square and Boulevard
We, the HM, some of the dozen winners of the Haifa Yakir title for 2016, call on you to lift the ban on holding the Haifa People's Protest March and the rally that the movement is holding in Horev Square at the end.
The march and demonstration reflect the true spirit of Haifa, the spirit of coexistence, the pursuit of peace and the struggle for democracy in Israel. Thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of residents from Haifa and the region have been participating in the event for more than three years, and to the sound of the "Tikva" they listen to speeches crying out for the preservation and maintenance of those values on which the Haifa spirit has been founded for generations. This is the public that supported you and some of your partners in the city's leadership.
The march and demonstration do not cause too much disruption to residents. The entire event lasts two hours, most of the roads are open, and the intersection blockage does not constitute a particular nuisance and does not last long.
This arbitrary and unilateral move has already caused serious damage to Haifa's reputation as a democratic and liberal city. We call on you to reverse your decision and hold talks with the organizers about the continuation of the demonstrations, their course, and their existence.
Best regards,
Dr. Eitan Adras, Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi, Mr. Gad Zeevi, Prof. Peretz Lavie
Enough with punishing the street urchins, you're fed up.
quite!!!!!!!!!!!
There is no democracy here when citizens are prevented from moving.
Protest as much as you want without blocking roads.
But what interests the protest organizers is precisely causing distress to the residents.
Who is it that decides for me what constitutes a "proportionate impairment" of my freedom of movement on a day of rest?
We are not asking you to stop your Woodstock festival "for democracy" (just because the public representative you chose was not elected).
We ask that you rotate intersections, demonstrate on the sidewalks, and allow us - the citizens who live in nearby neighborhoods - to lead a normative lifestyle that has been significantly damaged over the past 3 years.
If this is an excessive request, then who is the real fascist?
It's great to stop abusing residents for cheap politics.
Dear Yossi Ben Artzi,
As residents of the Horev area who have been under siege every Shabbat (previously it was Thursday) for about four years or more, and regardless of politics, we would be happy if you would protest on the beach or at another location each time to make things easier for the residents in the area.
We have no objection to demonstrations, but rather to the blockade that every demonstration/celebration/pride parade blocks a major thoroughfare at critical times and near a hospital. I don't need it to take me an hour and a half to get from the Carmel Center to Carmel Hospital.
This is not an isolated case, Yahav did decide to join the fascist spirit.. No amount of words will help. Shame on Yahav and pity on his partner, Rivka.
Where will we take the disgrace?
Four city darlings are the city's divisive ones!
The criminal law has accustomed the chaplain rioters to the fact that there is no law and no judge, and every chaplain will do what is right in his own eyes.
It's time to stop the Kaplanist terrorism.
Unfortunately, their freedom of expression is harming the conditions of the residents in the area. We have been under siege for years! An ongoing blockade at a central intersection! I personally, a few months ago, in my 8th month of pregnancy, had a serious medical problem that required immediate treatment at a hospital. The ambulance couldn't come, and I couldn't get there on my own, not even after pleading and crying a lot. A 5-minute drive to the Carmel emergency room took me about an hour, and unfortunately this very month, with a 6-month-old baby with a severe febrile seizure, I wasn't able to get to the hospital again. In great hysteria, I parked the car at a bus stop and ran on foot.
You can only demonstrate with love on the sidewalks, why block such a central intersection for so many years!!
Every sentence here is gold, my stomach hurts from laughing.
It seems that Horev Junction is not a place for protests, it blocks three main thoroughfares in Haifa, it's not a square, it's three main roads in Haifa and it's time to find an alternative place.
Those "dear ones" want the city's residents to continue to suffer and be besieged in their homes because they have the right to block roads and violate the rights of the city's residents. Don't the rest of the city's residents have the right to enjoy their Shabbat days without harassment?
Let them protest with their friends in the lower city, their values are shared, Israel's oppressors, we are fed up with you
The center of Horev is a major artery, and the roadblock affects everyone….
You don't understand how hated you are, your protests only drove people away from you.
Freedom of demonstration is extremely important but cannot come at the expense of freedom of movement, especially after 3 years in which the residents of the Ahuza neighborhood have been besieged in their homes.
The demonstration could continue in other locations, or in a rotation model.
Freedom of expression will be maintained even if another place is found for the demonstration. There is no shortage of places where residents' freedom of movement will also be maintained.
There is no problem. We want to share all this democratic goodness with other regions. Let them now block Wadi Nisnas. There is plenty for everyone. Let them not be deprived.
Several inaccuracies in one article:
I passed by there were few.
Do you want to protest? Stand on the sidewalk. Your right to protest does not override the right of the residents of Carmel who have been besieged for several years every Saturday night. You do not override the right of ambulances to reach the hospital. Who are you to decide for us, people who do not think like you, to make our lives miserable?
Right
It is impertinent for us to decide that an hour and a half block is a "proportionate violation."
Everyone who lives around the center of Horeb knows that it's not an hour and a half but an entire evening that burns!
On a day of rest!
Hahaha
Freedom of expression should not come at the expense of freedom of movement of vehicles in public spaces. Demonstrations cause congestion and traffic jams. People need to get to their destination, and there is no reason for an 85-year-old citizen to suffer because a few people feel like shouting in the middle of the road. Is it allowed to demonstrate? Absolutely! Should you demonstrate from time to time? Absolutely! But don't be smart at the expense of the little citizen because that is violence for its own sake!
Those who "milked" the city and got rich
Disturbing public order
Go demonstrate in the German Colony on Saturday.
With the "village mice".
In English they have an expression: has beens.
Former people who seek relevance in endless demonstrations and see nothing but themselves and not the good of others.
Disrespecting thousands of Ahuza residents – afraid to protest and block the settlement?
What happened to Yossi, the representative of the colony named after David Ben Gurion, the founder of the state, who is no more suitable?
Or is it not appropriate for you to go there and you only go to the shelter or don't leave the kennel?
A bunch of people who don't see the other side call themselves Democrats.
People can't get to Carmel Hospital because of them!!!
They don't really care about the people!!!
A bunch of sycophants!! Zeros, no life!!
People who contribute nothing to the country!!!
Anarchists, you will find other wise occupations, you are harming Haifa.
Not my dear, but the city blockers
For two years you have harmed the residents of the estate.
The fact that two are the heads of the academy shows that Israeli academia, and especially Haifa's, is tainted by politicization towards the left and even the extreme left.
They will demonstrate in the square in the German neighborhood.
Darlings of the City and other titles like that….
The law is the law.
Respect him. Your degrees are not important.
The way of the land comes before everything.
Haifa doesn't want the demonstrations in Horeb anymore. It hurts the residents who live around it, it hurts the patients who have to get to Carmel Hospital, it's a noise nuisance and especially the carrying of pointless lies. Go donate to society, to the dear IDF wounded.
Ask for permission to demonstrate at sea, where there is an amphitheatre and a stage and free lighting. Just fly away because you're fed up. This is not democracy.
There will be elections soon, change the government there... at the crossroads, nothing will help you.
Privileges…..
What's important is that freedom of movement is back 😉
Enough is enough, you bunch of bored Carmelite people, go find other lives and interests, you killed our Sabbath, the kidnapped are back, except for one, you contributed a lot, but enough is enough, constantly looking for something to protest about, move on.
There is still one hostage in Gaza!!° And with great sadness I feel (and this will not sound like an apology) that something needs to be said to people who think that people who have been in Horeb for over two years did not start because of the hostages but because of the reform that caused the West Bank disaster and the government's gross overstepping. They probably don't understand how to build a dictatorship. I hope for a better future for the country. We will preserve freedom, we will preserve democracy, free media, education and equality. It's worth every penny!!!!
Dear Yona Yahav, find them something else to do! They are simply bored, lonely and meaningless in life.
Why should citizens suffer from roadblocks?
Bored fools.
Enough, we exhausted all the demonstrations there at the intersection, disrupting all our transportation every morning, creating traffic jams until everyone was looking for alternate routes.
There is no need for more demonstrations, all the hostages are at home.
Go away, you're bored, look for another hobby and another source of income.
A correct and belated decision by the municipality.
A government is overthrown at the ballot box, not by disrupting the public with incessant street performances and weekly traffic blockades.
The left now has an opportunity, according to left-wing media polls, to form a government, and even that is doubtful, and probably only with partners who hate Israel and support the Palestinians from the joint coalition, so enough with the public disruption, let them go to the polls.
To vary locations. It has been a suffering for the residents of the area for 4 years now, who block our road every Shabbat. Sometimes there are urgent needs, small children, when Carmel is sick... Maybe we can hold it in the neighborhoods of the city's loved ones? Why bother just one neighborhood. The volume of the speakers is also unreasonable for the neighbors!
People who are bored with life, the guy is right, block them in Halisa or Kaplan, you're done.
As someone who lives right near the intersection, thank you Yahav for ending the suffering. You can't take the kids to eat in the center of Carmel on Shabbat, you can't come home on Shabbat afternoon and have to figure out how to burn time until we can get back. It doesn't make sense. It should have been done all over the city, each time a different intersection, not just Horev.
We want democracy, please! We can share the burden with everyone, not just those who live in the Horev area.
I don't understand what the problem is.
Go protest in the Khalisa neighborhood.
Why should residents of the central Horev area always enjoy freedom of expression?
Residents of Halissa and the surrounding area should also enjoy freedom of expression.
In "Khalisa" there is a fear of counter-demonstrations.
What audacity and audacity "even if they were hurt"
Tenants..." Want to demonstrate, there's plenty of space
On the beach. The fish won't bother you, they're quiet.
Blockage only for an hour and a half, don't you have a limit?!?
Enough is enough, we understand everything. You want a coup.
We, the residents of Horev and the surrounding area, advocate for silence.
Look for another place that won't be disturbed.
Dear city dwellers, Alec. Dear riots and savagery.
The 0-year-olds are digging.
nonstop
They closed Horev for 4 hours every Saturday as if it was their mother's private territory, they belong in prison.
Protest. Why not. But why block our roads and continue to disrupt our lives???
Well done to you, dear people of the city.
Haifa prides itself on its freedom. Canceling the demonstration is a predatory step against the freedom and openness of this city.
The disruption to city life is minimal and those working to repeal it want to keep their mouths shut.
Those who took away the miracle of democracy are you, the ones who closed our lives! Enough, elections change at the ballot box!
There is no reason to put the city, and this city's only entertainment center, to sleep. Blocking access
Medical centers, Horev, and Carmel Hospital
A single lane for Sami Ofer without having to pay tolls in the tunnels.
Let them go demonstrate on the beach.
The privileged from the University of Haifa are trying to stir up hatred and chaos in the city too 🤦🏼 Hope the donors of the University of Haifa wake up!
Recanati is turning over in his grave.
Well done to Yona Yahav 🕎
Yona Yahav is right, you are blocking the street. You are protesting and not noticing that you are creating more. A minority of the people. We are tired of all the barriers you are creating and all the years the people have found us, we have let you express your opinion.
Enough can't stand it anymore Haifa is celebrating the holidays, you are asking the people to come to all the points where there is a meeting of. Celebrating. What is the time to stop? We have been criticized until when did our patience run out? Regarding those who received certificates of appreciation, it probably didn't come because these people had to absorb everything and not just one side. And what is good in my opinion is that people who donate should understand the other, apparently they don't have it. Cheers to all the certificates of appreciation.
Very good! We run out of life every Saturday night because of the strikes. If they don't stop, they won't stop at all.
Friends, there is a place to meet and demonstrate at the Sports Hall.
Why block traffic in the meantime?
This is also not some exceptional case that must be stopped, for which everything happens, it happens every week. Enough!
I would like to say from here on behalf of hundreds of thousands of dear and enlightened residents of the city of Haifa that we are tired of you. For years, you have taken the law into your own hands in wild demonstrations supposedly for the sake of the kidnapped. You have disrupted our movement, our rest, our peace of mind, and you have turned our lives into hell at every opportunity.
Want to demonstrate? Go to the beach, go to the fields, don't disturb us, we care about you.
You're tired of the titles, expensive or not, the city takes them with you.
Go protest in Gaza.
Why do I have to get from Ramat Begin to the center of Carmel via the Cemetery Road and Derech Hayam Street, or go up to Einstein, get off at the Pika and drive via Shimshon Street? When they can march on foot and demonstrate near the Hasmona train
Oh poor people. And what about freedom of movement, which was under siege for a long time???
What freedom of expression!?
A group of disgruntled pensioners who have nothing to do in life!!
It's not just retirees, it's become disgruntled young men and women. Look at the real disgust. They sow salt, influence the children, grandchildren, and everyone else, and are just bored, sitting and eating Bissle on the sidewalks and blocking everyone who moves. They are extremely rude. It has become entertainment for them because they are lonely in life. They have become a group of Satan's cult that is destroying the entire country here and throughout the country.