It's happening. Now. After 53 days of protests, Israel's social justice movement is holding its final rally, hoping it will be the largest in Israel's history. Hoping it will change the nation's character forever.
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The protesters are hoping that a million people (13% of the population in a country with only 7.7 million - which would equal 40 million in the U.S.) will flood the streets, giving Israel's youth the social and political capital they need to enter the political area and effect monumental changes in Israel's economic and social structures – with smaller segments hoping to also change Israel's geopolitical stances.
They are hoping the movement will give all of Israel's citizens equal opportunities and equal treatment under the law. Jews. Arabs. Immigrants. Druze. Bedouin. The poor. The shrinking middle class. The vulnerable.
This is how it started, eight weeks ago:
A single Israeli, Daphni Leef, moves into the street on July 14 to protest unaffordable housing in Tel Aviv.
And this is what, weeks later, Leef's single act of civil disobedience awoke in her country:
On August 6, 350,000 Israelis poured into the streets protesting against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's economic, social and (for some) geopolitical policies.
At their core, these protests have been about a fairer distribution of wealth in Israel. They have been about economic reforms that give all Israelis access to affordable education, health care, and fair wages. But the movement has morphed and broadened over time, with a cacophony of voices adding their demands, from Arabs calling for fairer democratic treatment to leftists demanding an end to the occupation to political activists demanding a less militaristic society.
The movement has inspired Tahrir-style tent encampments to pop up in nearly every municipality in the country. It has brought dairy farmers into the streets. Working parents into the streets. Pensioners into the streets. Israeli-Palestinians and Israeli-Jews into the streets, together. It has inspired citizens to dance in the streets, to encircle Netanyahu's residence, to camp in front of the Knesset.
Arabs and Jews protest in Jaffo.
Protesters march in Tel Aviv, with the sign reading "Unifying - Succeeding."
Protesters spontaneously dance in a Tel Aviv intersection, blocking traffic.
Arabs and Jews march in Tel Aviv to express solidarity for victims in Southern Israel and Gaza during recent violence.
And now – for one last time before shifting tactics – Israel's youthful protest leaders, most of them in their twenties, are asking Israelis to give them the backing they need before going to the government.
This moment cannot be understated. Tonight may change Israel forever, depending on what happens. Depending on whether or not people flood the streets. And it's not just me who thinks this. A Haaretz editorial yesterday echoed these words:
Participating in [today's] demonstration means caring and involvement; not participating means complacency and willful blindness to the ills of Israel's society and economy. There is little dispute over the need for change, and that near-unanimous recognition must be given forceful expression Saturday.
Saturday's event in [Tel Aviv] will determine the character of our society: Will it remain comatose, submissively accepting the injustice that has pervaded it, or will it rise up in tenacious struggle?
The fate of a nation may be determined as we speak.
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Author's Note: I want to add different perspectives on the protests from several diarists, (first soysauce), as a way to include more voices from our community in the diary itself. While soysauce and I don't agree on everything, I think it's important that my perspective (as an America Jew with strong ties to and affections for Israel) is not the only one during this incredibly historic moment. Here's soysauce:
The developments in Israel are hopeful for me as a person deeply concerned about the way that capitalism has failed society. May they be victorious in crushing the unjust economic system that plagues most of the world.
As a Palestinian, I watch closely for signs that the injustices connected to Israel's founding are being discussed among the tent protesters. Palestinian Israeli activists have done a very good job of bringing these issues to the fore. Palestinian discourse today is about human rights and equality connecting the struggles of Palestinians everywhere, not just those under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. To see Palestinians in Israel (those who refused to be pushed out by Israel in 1948) taking an active role within Israeli society to envision a better future for all, regardless of sect, ethnicity or religion, is exciting. Conversations are happening. Institutional discrimination within Israel is being discussed openly. Joint Arab/Jewish marches are happening. People are demanding that resources be redirected away from militarism and the occupation into building a just society.
Is it enough? Not yet. Does it have hope? Absolutely.
Here is a perspective from unspeakable:
When this movement first started, I was very skeptical. It was a movement about the price of cottage cheese, the price of an apartment in the most developed city in the Middle East. A movement aimed at first-world problems that wouldn't address the real and systemic injustices at the foundations of Israeli state structures.
Then it started growing, and the downtrodden of the society (Palestinians, Ethiopian immigrants, undocumented refugees) began to join the protests. I was forced to reconsider my skepticism. Of course, like any other mass popular movement, it isn't perfect. I can criticize and find faults quite easily, especially from my perspective as a Palestinian who has family living in Israel and occupied Palestine. However, it has great potential to change Israel into a more just, less discriminatory, less militaristic society. Insofar as that potential exists and increases with time, this movement — warts and all — deserves our support.
Here is a "dissenting" opinion from weasel:
I've said repeatedly that the protests have failed to broaden substantially past the working middle class, and have failed to deal with the elephant in the living room (the Occupation). I know you've seen signs of them broadening to the Arab community in Israel, but to me, that still seems marginal and the protests still seem to limited to one class (albeit a very large and politically powerful class). However, to broaden themselves politically across class/race/issue lines would likely reduce their numbers, as a large majority of the Jewish middle class in Israel isn't really anti-occupation (though they'd love to see a resolution of it) and isn't really interested in helping Arab communities, the Haredi, migrants, or any other group which competes with the middle class for resources.
It's great if the protests continue, and it's great if they win more concessions (so far, the economic concessions haven't been very serious). But I don't see them making any fundamental change as long as they are so limited, and I see them permanently vulnerable to anyone who wants to distract the country with political events.
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LiveBlog - Times are EST
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5:11 - There is no question that tonight changed something in Israel. What tomorrow will bring, nobody knows. But Dafni Leef's words (in updates below) and her passion is what is staying with me right now.
4:59 - As midnight nears in Israel, the protest has officially ended as the largest in Israel's history, with nearly 1/2 million participating. It will take me some time to absorb today's events. I'll likely write something for tomorrow evening. As I watch the coverage conclude on the news, I give you this funny picture of the Golden Calf with a sign that says "privatization":
4:37 - Dafni Leef, the woman who began all of this by camping in the streets on July 14, has left the stage. And her appearance was monumental for several reasons. First, it's clear that, despite this not being her intention from the beginning, she has become the symbolic leader of this entire movement. Hundreds of thousands listened to her in silence.
Second, the content of her words were severe. She broached issues that, up to this point, I have not heard any protest leader broach. To accuse the government of taking advantage of violence as a means to silence the protests -- that is severe. And the crowd was with her. They agreed. And she included every element in Israeli society, from the ultra-religious to Bedouin.
I don't know how far this movement will expand -- it is already entrenched in a fight for so many economic and social issues. But Leef's words intimated that a fight against militarism is also a part of her personal struggle -- and her personal struggle right now has more symbolic weight than anyone else currently protesting in Israel.
4:28 - According to 972 Magazine, Dafni Leef said the following on stage (not all of which was shown on television):
J14’s founder Dafni Leef is on stage in Tel Aviv. She’s delivering a range of criticism against attempts to squash the movement. She slammed attempts to use last week’s terror attack to silence the protests, and to drive a wedge between the demonstrators and those affected by violence. Whether you’re an evacuee from Gush Katif (in Gaza) or a Bedouin, or a child whose parents can’t afford to send him on a school trip – the situation for you, too, has to change. “We are rebuilding our self esteem as a society.”
4:15 - This is big. Dafni Leef (the one who began all of this) came back to the stage, and she is now speaking. And she is getting very close to including broader issues without actually mentioning specifically geopolitical issues. She addressed the "security situation," and then said this risky sentence:
"I'm proud to be Israeli for the first time after years of identity with death and war."
Hundreds of thousands listened to her in silence. Simply stunning.
4:12 - This is what Tel Aviv looks like right now, as 460,000 across Israel and 300,000 in Tel Aviv scream for "social justice" and a change in Israel's course.
I don't know what will happen after tonight -- whether or not the protests will end and a new phase in transforming Israeli society will begin, or whether protests will continue.
But I do know this: tonight, something historic is happening in Israel.
4:04 - Channel 10 is estimating 460,000 in the streets (this is approximately 6% of the population, which would be 19,000,000 in the U.S.) And analysts are noting that, unlike in previous protests, nobody is leaving, despite school and work tomorrow for everyone.
4:01 - Dafna Leef, the woman who began all of this, is now speaking. She was not on the stage long, just long enough to express appreciation.
3:58 - The lead singer to הדג חדש just said the following:
"Before Israel was created, there were two goals: to build a country and to build a new society. Now, 66 years later, we have arrived at the moment in which we will be building a new society."
By the way, I was wrong about no musical acts.
3:52 - Israeli police have just announced that this is officially the largest protest in Israel's history.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, his coalition, and the governments that came before his have together managed to do something nobody else has been able to do:
Unite Israelis across cultural and socio-economic lines in ways never before seen.
3:50 - The count right now is 410,000 Israelis rallying across Israel, or over 5% of the population. (In America, this would be around 17,000,000.)
3:44 - Israelis are not just moving to change their leadership tonight, they are moving to change an entire governmental system. This is a country that has strong socialist roots, and its citizens have suffered from corrupt and unwise moves to the free-market, widening the gaps between the rich and poor, between the upper crust and the middle class. That is the economic aspect. From a social/political aspect, there are an untold number of individual issues that people are championing, from their signs, from their chants and from their writing. Equality for all. Resources being taken from the settlement subsidies and placed into the hands of the people. Critique of the occupation.
However, it's important to stress that, as far as the protest leaders and organizers are concerned, geopolitical issues ARE NOT a part of this struggle at the moment.
My hope is that economic justice and social justice will come to Israel. And in coming, it will transform a society willing to tackle geopolitical issues as well.
Right now, this is about a single mother trying to survive. It's about a lawyer who can't afford the rent. It's about a Palestinian-Israeli who doesn't feel she has full equality within Israeli society. It's about immigrants who don't feel they're being taken care of. It's about domestic issues.
3:29 - There are 60,000 in Haifa right now (Oy!) and 66,000 40,000 in Jerusalem, where protesters are focused squarely on Prime Minister Netanyahu's house.
3:18 - The talking heads are discussing this: nobody thought, after the terror attack that struck Eilat, and the rockets that fell last week from Gaza (civilians were killed in both event), that the protests would continue. Most thought the security situation would end these protests. And the past two weeks, the protests have been small.
But tonight, everyone's eyes have been opened, at least those in the media. They are seeing that this struggle for equality -- economic and social -- is not likely to end without real changes in the country.
3:14 - According to Channel 2, this has unofficially become the largest protest in Israel's history, with over 400,000 now in the streets. The energy is absolutely amazing. I hope to bring videos later or tomorrow. Again, if you can, here is the Live Broadcast on Israeli television: http://www.mako.co.il/...
3:11 - Look at this picture of the sea of humanity in Tel Aviv:
3:09 - There are now almost 400,000 people marching across Israel, with almost 300,000 in Tel Aviv. This is becoming historic.
3:04 - Analysts are saying that the student leaders have passed the test tonight with flying colors. The ability to amass such crowds, again, seems to be surprising everyone. Why, I don't know. I suppose those in the power structures of society (media in this case) are always shaken when they see such visions. The question is whether these protest leaders, after tonight, will take down all of the tents across the country and enter an explicit political push.
3:01 - 320,000 Israelis are now in the streets, and growing.
2:58 - Student leader speaking:
"This is the greatest awakening that the generations have ever seen. I promise that everyone will ask, "Where were you on the 3rd of September when our country changed."
"The government does not understand. It doesn't get it. We here are talking about the real issues. And we will not be broken. We will not give up, Netanyahu, we are here to stay."
2:55 - Student leader speaking:
"Prime Minister, we are the new Israelis...this square is full of people who love Israel, but want to move it in a different direction. We are the new Israelis -- we will not give up on hope. We will not give up until real solutions to all of this country's problems are solved."
He's been interrupted with chants of "We demand social justice." It is loud.
2:53 - 300,000 in Israel's streets so far! The main speech in Tel Aviv is beginning.
2:52 - An elderly couple was just interviewed, and asked, "Why are you here?" They said, "We want justice!"
2:51 - Wow. A protest organizer just announced that there are 55,000 in Haifa on the coast. If true, that's a huge number so far for Haifa.
2:50 - 30,000 in Jerusalem right now, with that number expected to grow -- they will all march to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's residence and rally in front of his house.
2:48 - An interesting discussion on the news about how there are almost no ultra-Orthodox in the streets tonight, and how one of the unspoken complaints in these protests (or spoken in some circles) is the disproportionate influence the religious blocks have, and how many protesters are enraged by the subsidies the religious receive so that they don't have to work as everyone else struggles.
2:43 - 260,000 now in the streets.
2:37 - This, care of 972 Magazine:
The march in Tel Aviv is about to begin. Here’s what Kikar Hamedina is looking like, below, courtesy of ActiveStills. Signs in the square are spamming the full gamut, from the full spectrum of social justice and welfare state slogans we’ve been seeing since the movement began, to Free Gilad Shalit, and signs also calling directly for PM Netanyahu to resign. Leaders from the Student Union up on the square’s stage are singing, “the protest will not end until the Knesset wakes up.”
2:35 - This is loud! The spirit is intense tonight. You can't hear the reporters on site.
2:27 - Over 200,000 now in the streets in Israel's main cities, which is approximately 3% of the country's population, which in the U.S. would equal 8,000,000. This number will grow. The symbolic million will not be reached, but the goal of this being Israel's largest ever protest (it must get to 400,000) is within reach.
2:22 - A fantastic point was just made on TV. At all other protests, there have been musical performances by many of Israel's top musicians to draw crowds. Tonight (if I understand correctly), there will not be any of that -- only speeches by leaders and community members. Hence: everyone out tonight is specifically to protest.
2:18 - In Arad in the South, there are between 500-1,000 so far. Awesome!
2:16 - Around 150,000 are on the streets in Tel Aviv at the moment, with tons of children out with their parents.
2:04 - 10,000 have gathered so far in Jerusalem, and thousands are gathering across Israel. I will bring number updates when they come in.
1:57 - Here is a live photo of Tel Aviv's main stage from above. Over 100,000 have already gathered and are marching to the stage, with the numbers increasing by the minute.
1:50 - Over 100,000 in the streets across Israel right now, and things have not officially begun yet. This march will not reach a million, in my opinion, but is has the potential to be the largest in Israeli history for sure.
1:47 - Opposition leader Tzippi Livni is being interviewed right now, and she is saying that the main impact of these protests and numbers tonight is that they can:
- Change the entire direction of the country
- To create an entirely different country that is more inclusive
- To move away from hurtful policies championed by the governemnt
Of course, her words are political -- and she is taking advantage of the situation -- but it's clear that she sees what's going on as transformational.
1:39 - A commenter is saying, "Tonight's numbers don't matter." Meaning: the message has already been sent to the Israeli government that things must change, and it knows that if change does not come on a number of fronts, there will be major political consequences.
1:35 - Everything is filling up quickly. The atmosphere is absolutely electric. I see almost every segment of Israeli society in the crowds. An elderly Jewish Israeli was just interviewed, and was incredulous when asked why he was there, as though the answer was obvious. Ha-ha!
1:30 - Correction, 70,000 in Tel Aviv alone at the moment, with more across Israel being counted. The commentators are talking about the major impact of this: Israelis have awoken to the notion that one person can change everything, hence the expected numbers.
1:25 - Israel TV approximating that there are now 70,000 people in the streets 40 minutes before the main rallies are supposed to start.
1:17 - As crowds continue to gather (an official count by a computer algorithm will begin updating on TV soon), the talking heads are discussing how much effect this protest can have in influencing the Israeli government. The consensus: it already has, based on Netanyahu's attempts both to form committees to deal with some of these issues and the government's official paper simultaneously trying to de-legitimize the protest leaders.
1:08 - A Twitter activist I love to follow, Elizrael, has seen many interesting groups gathered already: vegans, anarchists, the Green Party, radical feminists....
1:05 - Commentators are wondering if 400,000 alone will pour into Tel Aviv's streets alone, based on police activity.
1:01 - Already, an hour before the main rallies, approximately 15,000 are in the streets, which is a very good sign. Israelis in general are not early for things, nevermind on time. :)
12:58 - Here's the link to Israel's Channel 2 Live Broadcast. It's in Hebrew, but if you can get it to run, you'll get a sense of what's going on.
12:55 - Israel television is live with a special broadcast to cover the protests. A reporter just spoke with Dafna Leef, who began these organically 8 weeks ago, and the feeling is electric. How many across Israel will march? We're about to find out.
12:46 - With preliminary marches beginning in about 20 minutes and the main rallies slated to begin at 2 PM EST, internet traffic to the official protesters' website has crashed the site. I hope this is an indication of the numbers that are about to show up tonight. Already, big crowds are forming early.
Here is a visual showing the site's traffic from July 14, the first day of the protests, to today:
12:01 - Everything is blocked in Tel Aviv right now as police prepare for an unknown amount of people. Twitter activity is strong, and several people on the ground are indicating that things feel electric in the city. I hope they are right.