Protesting 50 Years of Occupation by Yahel Galili, Israel – photo essay –

To protest 50 years of Israel’s ongoing occupation of the West Bank, a large rally was held in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square last night, Saturday May 27th 2017. Left wing politicians, artists and organization leaders got on stage to speak for peace and against the current government’s choice not to promote it. They gathered in Rabin Square to fight for a better future. Largely unpopular leader of the opposition, Yitzhak “Bougie” Herzog, spoke to an unimpressed audience, the crowd booing as he spoke. Support for the two state solution was evident by the Palestinian and Israeli flags being raised side by side. Alongside with the hope expressed by the crowd of around 15,000 individuals, a growing sense of disillusionment grips many in the Israeli left. On the last picture you may see right wing extremists coming to form a counter protest by cursing at the crowd, as has become customary in all left wing assemblies. However, they were a minor nuisance compared with the large crowd that was there fighting for peace.