Israel's Russian-speaking community has its own media outlets and can boast senior politicians, a thriving cultural life, kindergartens and special shops. All these things give the impression that the Russian community prefers to be secluded and lacks the ability and willingness to be involved in the daily life of the country. But the recent protests that have swept Israel have also reached those who left the former Soviet Union and their children, and they have not ceased to argue and discuss the social and economic situation on newspaper pages, online forums and social gatherings. And yet, a Russian presence on the streets has not taken place, at least for now. This week, I met a man from the former Soviet Union who was an adult during the communist era in Russia, he said, Nobody really understands what the protesters are demanding. If the demands were clear, then I would would come out and protest, because it's no secret to anyone that life is difficult in Israel. Additionally, most of the demonstrators are very young and it is impossible to distinguish who is an immigrant and who is a veteran here. He differentiated between the housing protest and the doctors' strike, which he seemed to favor. Because there are a lot of Russians among the doctors, it is clear to [the Russian community] what they are demanding and that the government is trying to do something about it." When Ariel Marom, who coordinates the Russian community's activism in the social protests, wants to talk with the protesters in their mother tongue, he has to retreat from Rothschild Boulevard to the periphery. Most Russians do not live in Tel Aviv, but join in on the protest from where they live, he says. The media do not really show the peripheral cities in their coverage of the protest, and therefore you see them less. According to Marom, most of the protesters from the Russian community are young. The older generation, who were hardest hit economically, cannot usually leave their homes because of their health. So the struggle belongs to those of an intermediate age, who grew up in Israel or came here at a young age. Unlike those who were born in Israel, they cannot rely on economic aid from their parents. They try to make a living on their own and work a lot of overtime. Sometimes they work a second job while having to take care of their young children. Even though the Russian community has not paid too much attention to this protest, it does not mean that no one is talking about it, that no one is supporting it and that no one is coming out to demonstrate. In Marom's opinion, the Russian public does not have a mass presence in the demonstrations because of the protests leftist tint. The Russian community is of the general opinion that the organizers of the protest are left-wing movements, he says. Additionally, most of the Russian-speaking population is not opposed to the current regime. It wants social change but does not want to overthrow the government. We are in favor of negotiations with the government. Recently there was some serious dialogue between leaders of the protest and their representatives in the periphery. Many think the protest leaders have fallen in love with the idea of protesting just for the sake of protesting. We have joined the struggle and sympathize with the protest because the hardships are real and they are familiar to everyone, but we demand a clear definition of the demands. Che Guevara is not their cup of tea Dr. Zev Hanin, a senior researcher in the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, also believes that what is stopping throngs of former Soviets from taking to the streets is the immediate association they make with the Left. The Russian public views the protest movement as a sectarian leftist one, despite all claims to the contrary. An additional reason for Russian passivity has to do with the fact that this population is older than the rest of the country. The percentage of older people is higher. These folks experienced all the absorption difficulties of the 1990s, as well as the surge in rental rates when they immigrated two decades ago. No one back then told them to take to the streets. They solved their crises on their own and struggled very, very hard to survive. That's why today they can't understand it when young people don't want to solve their problems on their own. At the same time, Dr. Hanin concedes that many of the immigrants' children, who were born or raised in Israel and became students or young parents, have in fact become active participants in the current protest. No one distinguishes between them and native-born Israelis. There are many young people whom no one identifies as Russian because neither they nor those around them see any difference between them and Sabras. There is also a large number of pensioners who have been fighting for a solution to their own socio-economic problems for years. They have joined the fight and demonstrated in Jerusalem last week, he said. Arik Altman, a former journalist who now works as a political consultant, aired his views in an Internet discussion forum where young Russian speakers are debating the level of Russian involvement in the social justice movement. Most of the immigrants' political leadership, that is, people they elected to office, do not stand with the demonstrators, he said. That is what is stopping much of the Russian community from taking to the streets. Altman said the red flags being waved at the protests have turned a lot of people off. It's true that the Russian Revolution took place in 1917, but I have a picture at home of my grandfather, who was murdered by Stalin, and my parents remember being hounded by the Soviets. Red flags, Che Guevara, Lenin was right,' social justice,' as well as a poet getting excited about the spirit of the October Revolution, -- all these things alienate Russians from the protest. Altman also believes that protest leaders are leftists. Let's be clear about this. Likud and [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman voters did not march in Tel Aviv, whether in Hebrew or Russian. Russians do not march next to signs that say Bibi equals Assad equals Mubarak.' They have faith in Netanyahu's economic policies and see him as perhaps a strict ideologue, but not a corrupt one. He may not hand out apartments, but you don't get unemployment and inflation on his watch. This is the thinking of people who have to work hard to pay a high mortgage. Altman also said the protests were not raising problems unique to the immigrant population. No one speaks of the main grievance of many Russian people: discrimination in the workplace. This generation is having trouble breaking the glass ceiling hanging over their heads. The protest organizers couldn't care less about that issue. Because it's not their problem. Also, pension issues particular to the immigrants as well as their need for public housing dont come up at all. Moving to Canada is more realistic Michael Filipov, a doctoral student in political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who researches the political behavior of immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union says Russian immigrants, especially the younger ones, go to protests out of a feeling of identification with the demands of the middle class. However, he says, the older generation has more problems that are unique to it, including low pensions and the need for public housing, which do not interest the leaders of the protests. There are several primary reasons for the unwillingness of Russians to connect with social protest, Filipov says. We were all born in the Soviet Union, which is in our genes. It's not about the affinity to the communist idea but about ways of thinking, habits and traditions. People who came from the former Soviet Union are used to not arguing with the regime, not demanding anything from it, and relying only on themselves. Young immigrants, who served in the army and went to university here, can't afford to buy an apartment, and instead move to Canada en masse. To most, that seems like a much more reasonable solution than to ask for something from the state. Filipov claims that adult immigrants are afraid to make their voices heard, and put blind trust in their representatives in the Knesset. Unfortunately for the immigrants, it seems that Russian-speaking MKs realized a long time ago that the way to get Russians to the voting booths is to start talking about enemies and dangers to the homeland. Therefore, the social problems of that public generally do not interest the elected leadership. Objective reporting? Since the large wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the Russian-language media have blossomed in Israel, including radio, television, newspapers and websites. However, the current wave of protests, which has received enormous attention from the Hebrew press, has been downplayed in the Russian media. An open discussion on the economic situation and on the advantages and disadvantages of the protest movement is conducted in the Russian media in Israel, while the Hebrew press has turned itself into a recruiter for the revolution. People who receive a more critical viewpoint tend not to believe that they need to be with everyone and in the right places', says Arik Altman. Alex Kogan, a writer for the Russian website www.izrus.co.il, says, Anyone who knows the Israeli Russian media would say that they have covered the protests in a balanced and un-hysterical way, as opposed to the coverage in the Israeli media, which have unquestionably transmitted the clear message, Why haven't you joined-' The Russian media simply report, without giving too much commentary. No opinion is expressed, as it shouldn't be in the media in general. Filipov, on the other hand, believes that the Russian media in Israel simply know the political leanings of its public. Russian journalists know very well that their audience is right-wing, afraid of communist symbols and hateful of the Left. Therefore, the protest is presented in the Russian media in Israel as the protest of a group of leftists from Tel Aviv, with the support of a fifth column. The descriptions are not much different from those which could be encountered in Pravda. Only the enemy is different. The pastrami is still expensive Kogan also has answers to why the Russian community doesn't show up at the demonstrations in large numbers. We've been here for decades already; in the 1990s there were a lot demonstrations and people understood why they were demonstrating. Now the Russian community doesn't have a real interest in the demonstrations. The protest started a few weeks ago, the demands were formed just a few days ago, and they are also not that clear. Additionally, aspects of the protests bother us -- like images of Che Guevara. We don't want communism, but equal opportunities. There is no equality under a communist regime. For many years, people wrote that Russians like Lenin do not know what democracy is. Today, when we don't do what everyone else is doing, that is, taking to the streets with red flags and expressing our wishes, they say this isn't democracy. But what is democracy if not to express our wishes- According to Kogan, the Russian community is confronting the high cost of living just like any other community, but it does so in the periphery. The high housing prices in Tel Aviv are not something that everyone can relate to, he said. Everything in the country costs a lot, not only homes, he says. But we don't want revolution, rather a change. When you take a protest over the cost of living around the country and turn it into a protest about the cost of apartments in Tel Aviv, this doesn't change a thing for the Russian community. My pastrami, here in the periphery, costs the same. The message and the demands should be defined. There were a lot of participants in the protests over the price of cottage cheese because there was a clear message and it appealed to everyone. We support change but the demonstrations have lost their momentum.
