A Protester in Israel Just Set Himself on Fire

Things aren't great in Israel at the moment. People pissed off with how expensive it is to live in the country have been protesting on and off for a year now. This weekend, thousands of Israelis have been marking the anniversary of the time when they all

camped out on the streets in tents

by marching through major cities.

VICE reporters Milene Larsson, Alice Wagstaffe and Dan Dennison have been in Tel Aviv covering the marches. They weren't expecting the protests to be tame, but they were surprised earlier this evening (Saturday, 14th July) when they were walking down Kaplan Street in the centre of the city and a guy set himself on fire.

His name is Moshe Silman, and he left a letter for people to read:

Just in case you can't read Hebrew, it basically says that Israel has robbed him, that he has a brain haemorrhage and is unable to work yet still no receives no help from the state and that he can't pay his rent and doesn't want to be homeless. Which is why he decided to self-immolate.

He was taken to a hospital and reports indicate that he's alive. We'll have more photos, text and video from the protests soon, so stay tuned for that.