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Funding the protest

Aviv Lavie, Maariv, August 2 2011

A variety of speculations have been made as to who has financed the tent protest movement since it began afew weeks ago, particularly the role played by the New Israel Fund in the protest. Data and documents that

Maarivhas obtained indicate that the New Israel Fund did not donate even a single shekel either to theprotest tent camp on Rothschild Boulevard or the large demonstration that was held on Saturday night.

People at the forefront of the protest camp on Rothschild Boulevard were angered and frustrated in the pastnumber of days to hear increasing allegations as if their protest was a left wing protest that was being givenlarge sums of money from the New Israel Fund. A contributing factor to that sense was a statement that wasissued by the New Israel Fund in which it noted that its enlistment alongside the housing protest was anatural course of action for the fund to take. The activists on Rothschild Boulevard didnt know what theywere talking about. Some of them now have to cope with their high cellphone bills, others have had to signpersonally as guarantors for large sums of money to allow for the equipment needed for the demonstrationsin Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to be rented.

No one has backed us on those expenses, said one of the activists. We havent asked the New Israel Fundfor anything, and nor have we received an agora. This is a protest that is being staged with almost no budget,with a lot of volunteerism and the help of good people, and when there are expenses, they are covered mainlyby private donations.

A document that itemizes the sums that the New Israel Fund has given thus far to the protestors indicatesthat the camp on Rothschild Boulevard hasnt received any funds to date. In total, the New Israel Fund hasthus far given a sum of USD 10,250 (approximately NIS 35,000), that have been divided among ten tentencampments, including the ones in Jerusalem, Ashdod, Herzliya, Jaffa, Hatikva neighborhood and Levinskyneighborhoods in southern Tel Aviv. Each encampment has received an average of NIS 3,500, a sum that hasallowed for basic equipment to be bought.

We dont initiate sponsorship, said one official in the New Israel Fund. When we receive a request, it is

weighed on the basis of its merits, and a decision is made as to the scope of support. We havent received arequest from the tent camp on Rothschild Boulevard so far, and that is why that issue hasnt even been puton the agenda.

In response to the question as to why the New Israel Fund had seemingly professed its ownership over theprotest, while its actual support for the protest was quite limited, a source in the New Israel Fund explainedthat the fund has supported for years socially-oriented organizations and non-profit organizations that workto achieve affordable housing and a more equitable division, including the Association for Civil Rights inIsrael, the Coalition for Affordable Housing and others. Moreover, consultants for Shatil (support andorganizational counseling for organizations) have been working with the protest camps across Israel and havehelped them.

So if the money isnt coming from the New Israel Fund, how was the large protest on Saturday nightfinanced? To put on a demonstration costs a significant amount of money to cover the costs of amplification,a stage, a screen, transportation, security and other costs. According to a summary of the costs of thedemonstration, which was calculated by the leaders of the Rothschild Boulevard protest, the demonstrationon Saturday night cost NIS 44,000. Some of the activists privately signed as guarantors for the principal sumof NIS 38,000, which was paid to rent the stage and other equipment, on the assumption that they would beable to raise that sum from donations that would be given in the course of the demonstration. Indeed, after afundraising drive was announced from the stage, a total of NIS 40,000 was collected.

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There were jars there, said one of the activists, and people simply stepped up and put in bills and coins.There was a lot of excitement there, and that manifested itself in the willingness to take part in the costs.Alongside of donations from demonstrators, the costs were also covered by the Dror Leyisrael non-profitorganization, which paid for security costs, and the Six Colors non-profit organization (which supports thegay community in Israel), which paid NIS 2,000 for cordons. Photograph equipment, electricity and postersthat were hung in the street were paid for by means of private companies, and the Histadrut sent 15 buses.

We came to the conclusion that a public struggle without money is the most effective, said one of theactivists. We dont have ads in the newspapers, we dont have billboards, or commercials. Nothing wasbought with money, and that makes it more credible.