Adam Smith, ISL (RCIT in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 20.05.2025
On Wednesday 14.05 there was a teachers protest in Habima Square which the ISL attended. This was because of the approved cuts last year to public salaried workers of around 3%, to finance the war. Other public sectors workers also had cuts, but we compensated in other ways. Therefore, the teacher union appealed to the Supreme Court against this discrimination. The Ultra-Orthodox teachers were exempted from the cut(and therefore did not protest), something which some teachers and leadership used a reactionary way to promote their struggle. Interestingly, now that the protest was partially successful and the cuts reduced to around 1%, the ultra-orthodox also want an additional budget for their schools. The ultra-orthodox parties also do not want the draft bill to pass, so they are vetoing the other items on the government agenda. The speakers, including the Mayor of Tel Aviv, towed the center-left line of saying how much we should support the teachers, but at the same time not coming with concrete steps. Hadash was not visibly present in the protest, but Socialist Struggle(CWI) was, with their usual line about “both sides of the fence/national divide”, e.g. equating the oppressor and the oppressed. While opposing the war and linking it to the cuts, they did not write explicitly what solution they want. e.g. a one state or a two state. Fewer people attended than I expected, around 3000.
