Many people wandering around the tent camps on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and other protest sites throughout the country are asking themselves where this movement is going. How long will the tents remain? Anyone who has visited Rothschild Boulevard at night recently can't help but wonder if the protest is headed in the right direction and if it isn't time to fold up the tents and restore order to the boulevard. If we take a cue from history, we can conclude that, yes, the time has come to dismantle the tents. In many cases in the past, protest movements and revolutions have changed course over time and even moved in unexpected directions. The terror that followed the French and the Communist revolutions is an extreme example. But a better parallel to what is happening in Israel of 2011 is the Summer of Love that took place in the U.S. in the late 1960s. What is happening on Rothschild Boulevard is slightly reminiscent of what began in San Francisco and spread throughout California and the entire U.S. Young people brimming with energy and creativity are seeking to undermine the public discourse and challenge the existing social order. Yet what started as the Summer of Love ended in tragedy just two years later, when violence and death overtook the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont. The murderous cult of Charles Manson followed soon afterward. Rothschild has already turned into a festival of various exhibits, musical performances and entertainment centers that bear little or no connection to social justice. Vendors sell beer and fruit at temporary stalls, tobacco companies have sent employees to distribute cigarettes to passersby and teenagers drunk on cheap alcohol wander among the empty tents and signs bearing unclear messages. Since its inception nearly five weeks ago, the tent camp on Rothschild has gone through several phases. In its current phase, it does not bode well for the future, and for this reason it should be taken down. I think it was British playwright George Bernard Shaw who said that an actor's most important trait is knowing when to get off the stage, and if he didn't say it, he should have. Aside from taking advantage of the opportunity to end the tent protest in good taste, it would be brave and responsible for the protest leaders to show a sense of national responsibility before a tragedy occurs or before the police forcefully evacuate people. September is looming, and with it, the Palestinian bid for statehood at the U.N. General Assembly. Israel faces larger and more significant challenges than the cost of living and citizens' demands for social justice. Even in Spain, a country that inspired the Israeli protest leaders, they evacuated most of the camps throughout the Iberian Peninsula less than two months after they were erected. If the protest leaders initiate the dismantling of the tent camp, it will prove they are in control of events and also earn them points with communities whose voices have not been heard. People whose homes are on Rothschild Boulevard and its surrounding streets have suffered greatly in recent weeks, but have demonstrated extraordinary patience, tolerance and solidarity. Many of them could have called the police and complained about noise, fires and property damage, but did not do so out of respect for the protesters. No one has even mentioned the plight of dog owners in the area. Rothschild Boulevard is normally the main venue for thousands of dogs owners to walk their pets. They were forced to find alternative solutions and pay the price of the demand for social justice. Rothschild is also home to Israel's largest petanque courts, but no one has mentioned how the tents expropriated those plots and denied the sport's enthusiasts the right to play. Israel's petanque association does not have a spokesman or communications consultant, and the game's fans must continue to wait patiently for the tents to be dismantled. The Rothschild Boulevard tent camp should be removed. Protest organizers should leverage the move in their favor and invite the Trajtenberg committee members to help. That would be some winning shot. The protest has already brought its desired effect. Even with the existence of the Trajtenberg committee, protest organizers can call for mass demonstrations whenever they want. They don't need to live in a tent for this; they can also do so from an air-conditioned office with four walls.
