What made the protest a success?
The wave of social protests ended with a bang. While fewer than one million people showed up, hundreds of thousands took to the streets and the public squares. There were more people than had been expected, more than even what the organizers themselves had anticipated or feared. The summer of 2011 will go down as the summer of social protest. The protest has overshadowed all other issues, even the terror attacks and the diplomatic rift with Turkey, that have preoccupied Israelis throughout July and August.
The protest was something of a patchwork. The movement's leaders created a coalition of different ideas and views, some of which conflicted, and presented complex goals. Some of its founders pitched tents on Rothschild Boulevard as a means of toppling the government. Others adopted various viewpoints, including those who worked to reinstate socialist rule in which the government is the central figure in citizens' lives to those who sought to improve education, the economy and quality of life through a framework of liberal social-democratic values.
The organizers' own statements reflect the gaps in their intentions. Those who want a revolution have refused to negotiate or even talk with Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg and his committee [appointed by Prime Minister Netanyahu to propose economic reforms]; those who simply want change have acted differently. If it is true that National Student Union leader Itzik Shmuli represents the prevailing views of the protesters, we can assume they are willing to give negotiations with the government a chance. The very willingness to hold talks is premised on the two sides understanding that any solution would entail compromise.
The sight on Saturday was spectacular. Hundreds of thousands from the middle class took the streets to express support and solidarity, which they did mostly with good intentions. The content of some of the speeches could even serve as the basis for negotiations. Now that protesters are going to fold up the tent cities along Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and in other city squares across the country, the government must be careful not to exploit their absence and disappoint the important camp that filled the streets.
We cannot meet all of the protesters' demands; this would amount to economic suicide. But just because the tents have been dismantled does not mean we can reject them out of hand.
The government has to make the protesters realize that they were wrong in opposing the National Housing Committees Law, but it must also assign more land for housing starts. It must put an end to the market concentration in the form of scandalous pyramid-like monopolies, an issue that is going to be taken up by the High Court of Justice on Sunday. It must also find ways to lower the cost of living and encourage the ultra-Orthodox and Arabs to join the workforce. Increasing the state budget by one or two percent might also be in order.
When all is said and done, there is no single explanation for what made the social protest such a huge success. Some of the speakers on Saturday said that it derives from despair. Others claimed that hope was actually the driving force behind it. Or perhaps it was the combination of the two.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו