Residents of Gaza border community boycott voting in protest

"I don't believe in any candidate; none of them give me a feeling of security."

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 18:17

RESIDENTS OF Sderot protest on Tuesday against the government’s decision to accept a ceasefire with Hamas (photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS) — RESIDENTS OF Sderot protest on Tuesday against the government’s decision to accept a ceasefire with Hamas

(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)

Moran-Hila Madmoni, a resident of Sderot - one of the towns most heavily bombarded with Gaza rocket fire - decided to gather other area residents to go to the ballots: not to vote, but to protest.

Instead of putting a white note with a party name on it, protesters will be slipping a "red note" into their voting envelopes. This being a reference to the 'red alert' alarm that warns of incoming rockets, an alarm too familiar for their ears.

מבחינתי זה קול מבוזבז, אבל מבין לגמרי את תושבי שדרות ועוטף עזה שהחליטו להצביע הצבעת מחאה ולשלשל לקלפי פתק אדום (ופסול). מאחורי היוזמה עומדת הילה מורן מדמוני, תושבת שדרות: ״אם קולנו לא נשמע, לא ניתן אותו״. pic.twitter.com/gzT2Svqvc1
— almog boker (@bokeralmog) September 17, 2019

In an interview with Sderotnet, she said "I choose a red note. I don't choose to give my voice to any candidate because I didn't find one. This is the protest that should be going on in the Gaza border communities."

"I don't believe in any candidate; none of them give me a feeling of security."

In a post she published before ballots were opened Tuesday morning, she explained her decision. "A lot of people are saying that by doing this I'm strengthening the other side. Right wingers claim I'm from the Left, or sponsored by the New Israel Fund; left-wingers say I'm weakening them and strengthening the Right. I just think it's sad that the whole discussion now is all about Left vs. Right. It's all one big dichotomy, and in the space between there's a large public that seems to go overlooked."

"I know and understand that 'every vote counts,' but a protest can influence differently. I'm not trying to change the Knesset's lineup, I'm trying to change their decision-making process."

Residents of Gaza border communities have experienced a good amount of desperation over the past two decades, so much so that it might even affect the outcome of the elections.

Voting trends in Sderot have heavily favored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party in recent elections, drawing criticism from the Left claiming that residents are voting against their own security interests.