The Tel Aviv District Court today cancelled the restraining order to dismantle the Rothschild Boulevard tent camp protest in Tel Aviv, and is allowing protesters three days to clear out the area. If they don't, the municipality and police will evict them.
"Before the municipality enforces its right to evacuate the area, an effort is being made to allow tent dwellers to dismantle their tents on their own, and to prevent a forced eviction, and to allow those who are petitioning the court to organize their evacuation so that everyone will be able to celebrate the Jewish New Year in peace. Those petitioning the court are allowed to evacuate themselves so that the cancelled restraining order can take effect," the ruling said. "If the evacuation is not completed by September 21 at noon, the municipality is authorized to evacuate the encampment."
In the past few days, there have been many more acts of violence. Among other complaints, residents have reported break-ins and attempted break-ins to homes throughout the day, sometimes by drug addicts; an attempted rape occurred last night at the corner of Rothschild and Bar-Ilan streets (the police were called to the scene); and there has been vandalism of residential buildings in the area.
The Rothschild tent encampment was established on July 14 by Dafni Leef and other tent protest leaders. They grew like mushrooms after rain. The protest also spread to other cities throughout the country.
Over the last two or three weeks, the presence of protest leaders on Rothschild Boulevard began to dwindle, as well as that of other middle-class protesters. The Student Union left the Rothschild encampment as well. According to residents, the only people who have stayed are homeless people, drug addicts and people from disadvantaged neighborhoods.Stav Shafir, one of the protest leaders, was overseas while the court was discussing the housing issue last week.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 18, 2011
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