Could it really be?!? The Israeli Awakening!
From jeaunkes, the You Tube poster:
There is something in the air in Israël....
They say i am a dreamer but let's hope this could be the beginning for more humanity In Israel.
Let's hope for more justice for the poor.
Let's hope that the middleclass will claim their rights.
Let's hope that the politicians and Tycoons come back to earth where they belong, between the people.And hopefully then people will take a look on the other side off the wall. Palestinians don't even have the right to Protest Peacefully.
(Hat tip Bumblebye and Citizen)
When they start standing up for all of the people under the control of their government, especially the Palestinians in the occupied lands, and demand THEIR freedoms, then let me know. Otherwise it looks like a bunch of the privileged arguing that they’re not priviledged enough.
They complain about not enough housing? How about having one’s house demolished on 10 minutes notice as happens all the time in Arab East Jerusalem. THAT seems like an issue to get excited about.
I abide. Cautiously.
i remain hopeful! watch it again, there are signs things may change. certainly people must realize shoving money into the WB settlement construction as well as massive support for those settlements has screwed israel over, not to mention how much of their economy is dependent on the occupation industry. you can’t hide those numbers forever. israelis are not that stupid, brainwashed maybe, but not stupid.
Annie, a new tent has been pitched in Tel Aviv! See Twitter, #tent48 . Their new Facebook page also gives live updates:
Fosna Facebook is following them as well. Let’s spread the news…
Here’s an excerpt from their (tri-lingual) Facebook info page:
“A group of citizens, …which believes in shared sovereignty of all its citizens. Instead of thinking about separation and limitation, we think of using the existing power of possibility…. Policy of divide and rule, … prevents real change and produces a deep social demands boundaries. If we work together we can only benefit.”
bindup, awesome. yes i have been following @AbirKopty on twitter since soysauce @ adalah dkos wrote about this the other day! excellent news.
“israelis are not that stupid, brainwashed maybe, but not stupid.”
I’d be interested in what part I.Q. plays in gaining awareness.
Woody, a similar sentiment was written by in Tikkun Daily:
However, if protest organizers were to willfully add geopolitical, human rights issues (such as the settlements and the occupation) to the movement’s official agenda too soon, some, including Israeli journalist Yossi Gurvitz, think it would mean the collapse of the movement’s popular approval in Israel. Why? Left-leaning Israelis have historically lost when it comes to discussions of security….
link to tikkun.org
It is easy to galvanize people from across the social spectrum around a single concrete issue: cottage cheese and rents are too high and the middle class now feels squeezed.
But they will never agree on the root of WHY the squeeze or how it came to this: That the entire economy and government in Israel is in the hands of a few. That the Zionist enterprise is just that — an enterprise for the few that needs fearful sheep to keep it going.
That occupation is an industry that is feeding the few, sucking from the rest and destroying Israel. That the few who “own Israel” need to maintain their hold and keep the conflict industry (a huge part of the Israeli economy) going.
And this unnecessary conflict and occupation is stealing from all Israelis (And the American tax payers) now and into the future.
As Woody says, for now it is still a bunch of privileged, comfortable Israelis complaining for themselves and their material desires.
Whatever you class the movement as the I find the Tahrir references a huge stretch at best if not outright offensive.
People in Tahrir were fighting a murderous dictator thug who was fond of torturing & imprisoning political activists. There is absolutely no comparison to a protest about middle class living standards. Just in case the usual suspects show up in this thread bleating, I objected just the same when people referred to protests in Spain with Egyptian overtones. Although I never saw Spanish protestors doing themselves, unlike with the J14 protestors.
Especially seeing as Israel has offered Mubarak asylum.
Ain’t this a bit premature, too much lipstick on the pig. It may morph into something eventually, but there a far cry from Egypt. Their country created in large part, the problems of the Egyptians.
well, i can’t take credit for the title. maybe you and djinn have a point and i should consult w/management.
we’ll see. Hope springs eternal.
I say, let Annie be Annie, hopefulness & all.
If we think anyone owns springtime, we’re in real trouble.
These tent protests may turn into something entirely unexpected. Can we really predict where this is all going?
I read this morning that some Israelis walked a tent around the White House yesterday (or today?) Maybe we should take a hint.
Very good point.
What this demonstraes, is that in spite of being coocooned in the protective bubble of US largesse, aid, financial entitlements etc. that Israel is not immune to the realities of the glocal economic crisis. In many ways, what took place in Tahrir was sparked by the same issues as this – the US exporting inflation. Both countries are heavily dependent on US aid and therefore US dollars, but as the dollar plummets in value, it innevitable that food prices would rise.
Until now, the state of the Israeli economy was of secondary importance to the US economy, even from Israel’s perspective. The Israeli economy is a false one, and the crisis in the US serves to highlight this fact.
The great irony is that it might turns out to be that the state that has protected and financed Israel for so many years might also bring about it’s undoing.
Just thinking about all the game changing riots in the USA that took place in the heat of the summer.
Do people in the M.E. get motivated in the heat?
Apartheid Israel steals Arab lives, swindles Arab land, Arab water, Arab gas, Arab humus – and now the Arab Spring.
LOL! Is there ANYTHING they have that they’ve created off their own backs?! Well I can’t for the life of me think of any!
Besides, let’s get real here: like the frigging Rothchild Avenue = Tahrir Square! C’mon folks, even the name of Rothchild is elitist and anti-revolution.
Taxi, we come from different places(to put it mildly).
But when your right, you’re right! Sheesh. Rothchild Avenue! You do have a point. Then again, I once had a very nice of Latte on Diezengoff Street. Kind of like Tahir Square meets Rodeo Drive.
Fight the power. Sushi, Latte, and Hummus to die for. Marching in Izod’s mesh polos after a really hard day of tennis.
Phil Weiss had enough of the right-wing My-Israel right-or-wrong wing of America, probably was sickened many times by the right-wing, religious wing of Israel.
I find these Tel Aviv children rather disgusting to put it mildly. To this not-so-objective observer, why don’t they vacate their own duplexes and seaside condos and work to ensure an arab return. To search for another metaphor, it would be like Assad’s children protesting in their deluxe mansion against daddy. Or, listening to the “desert beauty Mrs. Assad” rant against Israel, showing her solidarity with Gaza, while shtupping Mr. Assad, killer of thousands and counting.
…and counting but yet to catch up to Israel.
it does remind me a bit of the interviews conducted on both sides of the border during the 2006 lebanon campaign, with scenes of lebanese civilians fleeing the IDF/IAF, their homes destroyed, after which the ABC/CBS/NBC correspondent is interviewing an israeli seated at an outdoor cafe in haifa.
While reporting that Israel was being attacked.
Why not try any of the local culture Biorabbi? Oh that’s right, there isn’t any.
I live in Paris and I mentioned “falafel” to a friend of mine, and she replied, “oh you like Jewish food?”
I said, that…is….NOT….”Jewish” food!
You’re right, occupation is not just about land and resources, it is also about culture. Israeli Jews have essentially stolen Palestinian identity — their food, music, etc.
sabra has a particularly disgusting TV campaign going on right now in which an arab market and family members figure prominently in the ad for ‘sabra hummus’. (did you know that israelis invented the chick pea? i didn’t until very recently.)
Jewish Israelis are like White South Africans in the 1980′s. Hit them in the wallet and they will throw in the towel. The answer more BDS!
You forgot to mention ‘rain’. A little summer rain will clear Rothchild Square faster than an approaching Hamas rocket.
In an action in the Syrian city of Hama today, Assad butchered a reported 109 Syrians. He has cut the region’s internet access, circling the area, stopping those who might leave, and butchering his own people.
In a related note, it appears his two “border crossings” into Israel/Golan may have backfired. His aim was/is deflection. Blame the Zionists; but nothing much to see within Syria. In the two border infractions, the Syrian people blamed his own regime for the loss of life.
When I see these Israeli youth “brave protestors” in the “Tahir of Tel Aviv” disparage their government to the approval of the great unwashed abroad, I must confess to a bit of nausea. Actually, more than a bit. These “idealistic sabras” who are “protesting against the man” … demonstrating their socialist credentials, trying to blend into the arab neighborhood.
For once, I agree with many Mondoweiss posters who are a bit revolted with the Tel Aviv crowd protesting against the man by day, eating Sushi and going to rave clubs at night. Somehow the Tel Aviv Tent Brigade(TATB)doesn’t measure up to the Egyptians(unless Barak sends in the camels)or the Syrians… both of whom paid in blood and treasure. The Tel Aviv crowd maybe has paid to… for the Aloe to salve their sun burn.
Also revolting to moi, is the schlepping in of Mubarak into court on his death bed. WTF? The guy is a decorated officer. He could have easily fled(and not just to Eilat) but is a true patriot. Whatever the obvious flaws of his sons, Mubarak’s sin was to believe he could squeeze the toothpaste back into the tube. I feel sorry for him. But that’s just my bastard jaundiced personality.
Which is less than half as many Palestinians that Israel killed on the first day of Cast Lead.
You have a point Bio. Israel is selective about who it butchers – any Goi.
He has not crossed any borders into Israel dolt.
Accpording to what evidence?
That’s not surprising Bio. Any critcism of Likud seems to being you nausea.
Alas, why are we not surprised that Bio, as an Israeli apologist, reverees a murderous tyrant and dicatator?
It’s not your personality, it’s your sich jaundiced ideology.
biorabbi….your beloved Israel & its military/IDF/Killers have left many killing trails behind them…just take a look at the numbers/data/graphs below:
*****************
September 29, 2000 – Present
1,084 Israelis and at least 6,430 Palestinians have been killed since September 29, 2000. (View Sources & More Information)
124 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 1,463 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000. (View Sources & More Information)
“The majority of these [Palestinian] children were killed and injured while going about normal daily activities, such as going to school, playing, shopping, or simply being in their homes. Sixty-four percent of children killed during the first six months of 2003 died as a result of Israeli air and ground attacks, or from indiscriminate fire from Israeli soldiers.”
link to ifamericansknew.org
Is this a joke? Imagine if whites in apartheid South Africa did the same thing without making a peep about apartheid? It would not be taken serious; nor should this.
Israelis have ONE thing to mobilize and protest for, and we all know what that is.