[P2P-F] Fwd: Israel's Tent Cities--a Movement Suddenly Emerges. Perspectives from Uri Avnery, Zeev Sternhell, & Bernard Avishai
Michel Bauwens
michel at p2pfoundation.net
Wed Aug 10 13:23:14 CEST 2011
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tikkun <magazine at tikkun.org>
Date: Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 8:08 PM
Subject: Israel's Tent Cities--a Movement Suddenly Emerges. Perspectives
from Uri Avnery, Zeev Sternhell, & Bernard Avishai
To: Michelsub2004 at gmail.com
*Three perspectives on the amazing growth of tent cities of protest
across Israeli society.*
*Uri Avnery*
*August 6, 2011*
* *
* **“How Goodly Are Thy
Tents”*
* *
*FIRST OF all, a warning.*
* *
*Tent cities are springing up all over Israel. A social protest movement is
gathering momentum. At some point in the near future, it may endanger the
right-wing government.*
* *
*At that point, there will be a temptation – perhaps an irresistible
temptation – to “warm up the borders”. To start a nice little war. Call on
the youth of Israel, the same young people now manning (and womanning) the
tents, to go and defend the fatherland.*
* *
*Nothing easier than that. A small provocation, a platoon crossing the
border “to prevent the launching of a rocket”, a fire fight, a salvo of
rockets – and lo and behold, a war. End of protest.*
* *
*In September, just a few weeks from now, the Palestinians intend to apply
to the UN for the recognition of the State of Palestine. Our politicians and
generals are chanting in unison that this will cause a crisis – Palestinians
in the occupied territories may rise in protest against the occupation,
violent demonstrations may ensue, the army will be compelled to shoot – and
lo and behold, a war. End of protest.*
* *
* *
*THREE WEEKS ago I was interviewed one morning by a Dutch journalist. At the
end, she asked: “You are describing an awful situation. The extreme
right-wing controls the Knesset and is enacting abominable anti-democratic
laws. The people are indifferent and apathetic. There is no opposition to
speak of. And yet you exude a spirit of optimism. How come?”*
* *
*I answered that I have faith in the people of Israel. Contrary to
appearances, we are a sane people. Some time, somewhere, a new movement will
arise and change the situation. It may happen in a week, in a month, in a
year. But it will come.*
* *
*On that very same day, just a few hours later, a young woman called Daphne
Liff, with an improbable man’s hat perched on her flowing hair, said to
herself: “Enough!” *
* *
*She had been evicted by her landlady because she couldn’t afford the rent.
She set up a tent in Rothschild Boulevard, a long, tree-lined thoroughfare
in the center of Tel Aviv. The news spread through facebook, and within an
hour, dozens of tents had sprung up. Within a week, there were some 400
tents, spread out in a double line more than a mile long. *
* *
*Similar tent-cities sprang up in Jerusalem, Haifa and a dozen smaller
towns. The next Saturday, tens of thousands joined protest marches in Tel
Aviv and elsewhere. Last Saturday, they numbered more than 150,000. *
* *
*This”] has now become the center of Israeli life. The Rothschild tent city
has assumed a life of its own –a cross between Tahrir Square and Woodstock,
with a touch of Hyde Park corner thrown in for good measure. The mood is
indescribably upbeat, masses of people come to visit and return home full of
enthusiasm and hope. Everybody can feel that something momentous is
happening. *
* *
*Seeing the tents, I was reminded of the words of Balaam, who was sent by
the king of Moab to curse the children of Israel in the desert (Numbers 24)
and instead exclaimed: “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy
tabernacles, Oh Israel!” *
* *
* *
*IT ALL started in a remote little town in Tunisia, when an unlicensed
market vendor was arrested by a policewoman. It seems that in the ensuing
altercation, the woman struck the man in the face, a terrible humiliation
for a Tunisian man. He set himself on fire. What followed is history: the
revolution in Tunisia, regime change in Egypt, uprisings all over the Middle
East. *
* *
*The Israeli government saw all this with growing concern – but they didn’t
imagine that there might be an effect in Israel itself. Israeli society,
with its ingrained contempt for Arabs, could hardly be expected to follow
suit.*
* *
*But follow suit it did. People in the street spoke with growing admiration
of the Arab revolt. It showed that people acting together could dare to
confront leaders far more fearsome than our bumbling Binyamin Netanyahu. *
* *
*Some of the most popular posters on the tents were “Rothschild corner
Tahrir” and, in a Hebrew rhyme, “Tahrir – Not only in Cahir” – Cahir being
the Hebrew version of al-Cahira, the Arabic name for Cairo. And also:
“Mubarak, Assad, Netanyahu”. *
* *
*In Tahrir Square, the central slogan was “The People Want to Overthrow the
Regime”. In conscious emulation, the central slogan of the tent cities is
“The People Want Social Justice”.*
* *
* *
*WHO ARE these people? What exactly do they want?*
* *
*It started with a demand for “Affordable Housing”. Rents in Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem and elsewhere are extremely high, after years of Government
neglect. But the protest soon engulfed other subjects: the high price of
foodstuffs and gasoline, the low wages . The ridiculously low salaries of
physicians and teachers, the deterioration of the education and health
services. There is a general feeling that 18 tycoons control everything,
including the politicians. (Politicians who dared to show up in the tent
cities were chased away.) They could have quoted an American saying:
“Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what
to have for dinner.” *
* *
*A selection of the slogans gives an impression: *
*We want a welfare state!*
*Fighting for the home!*
*Justice, not charity!*
*If the government is against the people, the people are against the
government!*
*Bibi, this is not the US Congress, you will not buy us with empty words!*
*If you don’t join our war, we shall not fight your wars!*
*Give us our state back!*
*Three partners with three salaries cannot pay for three rooms!*
*The answer to privatization: revolution!*
*We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, we are slaves to Bibi in Israel!*
*I have no other homeland!*
*Bibi, go home, we'll pay for the gas!*
*Overthrow swinish capitalism!*
*Be practical, demand the impossible!*
* *
* *
*WHAT IS missing in this array of slogans? Of course: the occupation, the
settlements, the huge expenditure on the military. *
* *
*This is by design. The organizers, anonymous young men and women – mainly
women – are very determined not to be branded as “leftists”. They know that
bringing up the occupation would provide Netanyahu with an easy weapon,
split the tent-dwellers and derail the protests.*
* *
*We in the peace movement know and respect this. All of us are exercising
strenuous self-restraint, so that Netanyahu will not succeed in
marginalizing the movement and depicting it as a plot to overthrow the
right-wing government. *
* *
*As I wrote in an article in Haaretz: No need to push the protesters. In due
course, they will reach the conclusion that the money for the major reforms
they demand can only come from stopping the settlements and cutting the huge
military budget by hundreds of billions – and that is possible only in
peace. (To help them along, we published a large ad, saying: “It’s quite
simple – money for the settlements OR money for housing, health services and
education”).*
* *
*Voltaire said that “the art of government consists in taking as much money
as possible from one class of citizens to give it to the other”. This
government takes the money of decent citizens to give it to the settlers.*
* *
* *
*WHO ARE they, these enthusiastic demonstrators, who seemingly have come
from nowhere? *
* *
*They are the young generation of the middle class, who go out to work, take
home average salaries and “cannot finish the month”, as the Israeli
expression goes. Mothers who cannot go to work because they have nowhere to
leave their babies. University students who cannot get a room in the
dormitories or afford accomodation in the city. And especially young people
who want to marry but cannot afford to buy an apartment, even with the help
of their parents. (One tent bore the sign: “Even this tent was bought by our
parents”)*
* *
*All this in a flourishing economy, which has been spared the pains of the
world-wide economic crisis and boasts an enviable unemployment rate of just
5%.*
* *
*If pressed, most of the protesters would declare themselves to be
“social-democrats”. They are the very opposite of the Tea Party in the US:
they want a welfare state, they blame privatization for many of their ills,
they want the government to interfere and to act. Whether they want to
admit it or not, the very essence of their demands and attitudes is
classically leftist (the term created in the French Revolution because the
adherents of these ideals sat on the left side of the speaker in the
National Assembly). They are the essence of what Left means - (though in
Israel, the terms “Left” and “Right” have until now been largely identified
with questions of war and peace). *
* *
* *
*WHERE WILL it go from here?*
* *
*No one can say. When asked about the impact of the French Revolution, Zhou
Enlai famously said: “It’s too early to say.” Here we are witnessing an
event still in progress, perhaps even still beginning.*
* *
*It has already produced a huge change. For weeks now, the public and the
media have stopped talking about the borders, the Iranian bomb and the
security situation. Instead, the talk is now almost completely about the
social situation, the minimum wage, the injustice of indirect taxes, the
housing construction crisis.*
* *
*Under pressure, the amorphous leadership of the protest has drawn up a list
of concrete demands. Among others: government building of houses for rent,
raising taxes on the rich and the corporations, free education from the age
of three months [sic], a raise in the salary of physicians, police and
fire-fighters, school classes of no more than 21 pupils, breaking the
monopolies controlled by a few tycoons, and so on. *
* *
*So where from here? There are many possibilities, both good and bad. *
* *
*Netanyahu can try to buy off the protest with some minor concessions – some
billions here, some billions there. This will confront the protesters with
the choice of the Indian boy in the movie about becoming a millionaire: take
the money and quit, or risk all on answering yet another question.*
* *
*Or: the movement may continue to gather momentum and force major changes,
such as shifting the burden from indirect to direct taxation. *
* *
*Some rabid optimists (like myself) may even dream of the emergence of a new
authentic political party to fill the gaping void on the left side of the
political spectrum.*
* *
* *
*I STARTED with a warning, and I must end with another one: this movement
has raised immense hopes. If it fails, it may leave behind an atmosphere of
despondency and despair – a mood that will drive those who can to seek a
better life somewhere else. *
* *
* ************************
- Published 01:25 05.08.11
- Latest update 01:25 05.08.11
From protest to power The young demonstrators would do well to remember May
1968 in Europe; a protest that does not find immediate political expression
is destined to disintegrate. By Zeev
Sternhell<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=r9RN%2FvqZ%2Bj7KexSxSc8PmYCnHkgaVsiq>
In these times of hope and anticipation, it is difficult not to wonder
what form the protest might have taken, and what results it might already
have achieved, if there had been a large and authentic social-democratic
party here with a labor union worthy of the name, at its side. Indeed a
spontaneous uprising that does not find political expression very soon, and
does not threaten those who are in power, will of necessity have very
limited achievements.
Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu understands that when there is no
opposition with an ideology of structural social change, and which is
capable of garnering electoral support for a comprehensive national economic
program, the danger facing him and his party is negligible. The truth is
that the protesters themselves have already presented him with a way out.
His representatives will anoint the protest leaders with pure oil, will set
up teams and present ideas, will throw them a few bones and then will move
to the area where there is no greater expert than Netanyahu: drawing out
time and making promises that no one intends to keep.
The real problem, however, is not the government but rather the political
elite. Except for a small number of politicians on the center-left, like
Knesset member Shelly Yachimovich (Labor ), most of the political leadership
is partner to the blind belief in the unique qualities of a free market.
There were indeed people outside the political arena who for decades
contended that a free market creates no less poverty and misery than wealth
and welfare; there were those who believed that poverty is not some kind of
natural phenomenon but rather something created by man. But all of them were
considered "populist." There were people who saw in the state a tool for
correcting distortions and supplying cheap and good-quality services to the
entire population, but they were denounced as wanting to return to the
1950s.
Therefore the young demonstrators would do well to remember May 1968 in
Europe. Beyond the obvious differences, there is a common denominator: a
protest that does not find immediate political expression is destined to
disintegrate.
New forces that were not involved in politics until now could play a key
role. They could break the neoliberal consensus and to be the motivating
force behind the creation of a broad opposition front that brings together
all those who recognize the need to address the chronic ills of Israeli
society - and not just deal with the milk cartels.
A front of that kind would have place for all those who shy away from the
neoconservative "economy of compassion" which is the basis of the impure
alliance between the government, the Histadrut labor federation and the
people with big money.
Indeed a protest against the obstructed social horizon of the middle class
is not out of touch with numerous other problems. In order to create a
society that is more egalitarian and just a change is needed in the
political balance of power. The protesters will be able to achieve
substantive results only by linking up with all the forces that are opposed
to the present government, but not to the settlers who are its pillars of
support. It will not be enough to demonstrate and march, especially since
the marchers will tire a long time before the politicians and before the
Yesha Council of settlements.
Therefore, after their preliminary success, they will have to begin the
process of dull political work and building up a force that can compete in
the next elections. The tent dwellers may be able to provide part of the
leadership and to refresh the lines. The hope that was born in the
Rothschild tent city must not be allowed to expire in the argument over VAT
accounts. Unless an ideological and moral force arises that can be an
alternative to the destructiveness of neo-liberalism, the life expectancy of
this welcome protest will be as long as the length of the Israeli summer.
* **************************************
- Published 09:49 05.08.11
- Latest update 09:49 05.08.11
Memo to the marchers The answer is that the atmosphere on Planet Netanyahu
is slowly suffocating us. By Bernard Avishai
Are our economic problems a result of the absence of peace? If we
continue with the peculiar version of “Zionism” that Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu represents, are things bound to get worse? Yes. Hell, yes. But
before we connect the dots, a word of caution:
Israel’s high degree of inequality is not, by itself, proof of economic
injustice so much as of how globalized the Israeli economy is. Our growth is
driven by high-technology exports in software, value-added components,
advanced medical devices and other “solutions.” So we are bound to have a
social profile more like Silicon Valley than a manufacturing city like
Wolfsburg, Germany. I could work a lifetime teaching at a business school
and not amass the fortune of one former student, who just sold his start-up
to Getty Images for over $20 million. Bless him.
The real question is whether those of us who do not have a shot at a fancy
technology jackpot have growing incomes and an improving quality of life.
Does what we earn and pay taxes on leave us with enough for essential things
like higher education, medical care, cars and fuel − and, yes, housing? If
not, why not?
The answer is that the atmosphere on Planet Netanyahu is slowly suffocating
us:
• The settlement project was, and is, insufferably expensive. Upwards of $20
billion have been spent on settlements and infrastructure in occupied
territory, and that doesn’t include the costs of securing them. Meanwhile,
traffic on the coastal plain long ago graduated from heavy to infuriating;
mass transit projects in major metropolitan areas are constantly postponed.
• The industries that liberated Palestinians will focus on, and draw
regional investment to, are precisely those that lower-income Israelis are
bound to benefit from: tourism, construction, retail, food processing.
Israel and Palestine are one business ecosystem. Israel could generate
another $8 billion in GDP just from doubling its number of tourists from 3
to 6 million a year. (Florence gets 12 million.)
• One-sixth of the government budget goes to defense, and that fraction is
creeping up to incorporate new weapons systems. Social services are
inevitably trimmed. Moreover, the ratio of national debt to GDP is stuck at
around 75-80 percent, not unmanageable as long as interest rates remain low
and growth rates remain high, say, 4-5 percent a year. But if Israel were to
enter periods of lower growth − as would be inescapable with greater
political isolation, that is, with Israeli start-ups facing new obstacles to
building relationships with European corporations − it would be impossible
to outpace the social tensions we now see or the discontent in the
Israeli-Arab community.
• Educational infrastructure is in serious decline. Critical preschool is
crushingly expensive for young couples. High-school classrooms average 30-40
students. University budgets have been slashed. Yet the Netanyahu government
is focusing on the “Zionism” content of the curriculum, not on development
of critical thinking in a science-driven economy.
• The health-care system is in crisis, yet Israeli medical training is
world-class. Medical tourism, especially from neighboring Arab countries and
the Gulf, could rejuvenate the Israeli medical realm overnight.
• Participation in the Israeli workforce is among the lowest of OECD
countries, about 56 percent as compared, say, with 68 percent in Japan,
which is among the highest. This is largely because of the long-standing
policy of the Likud and Company − a policy Yossi Sarid, when he was
education minister, tried to change − to keep ultra-Orthodox yeshivas on the
dole.
• The major driver of high land prices is the Israel Lands Administration, a
throwback to the old Zionist Jewish National Fund (whose lands still
constitute about a fifth of the ILA’s holdings), managing roughly 90
percent of Israel’s land for “the Jewish people.” Privatization and
auctioning of land is necessary to bring the cost of housing down. But this
would mean that Arab towns would be able to buy much more land for their own
development, which is anathema to the Israeli right.
• Ginning up the cost of flats themselves, especially in Tel Aviv’s and
Jerusalem’s core, are absentee owners: Wealthy Diaspora Jews who − excited
by the right’s pandering, and encouraged to think of Israel as a kind of
metaphysical theme park − drive out younger buyers and renters.
• Incessant war tension, among other things, has degraded the quality of
life. A million Israeli Jews live abroad today, disproportionately
well-educated people who could be founding companies at home.
• Last, though not at all least, is Netanyahu’s freewheeling approach to
market regulation − so much like that of American Republicans, and masked by
ultra-nationalist distractions. This means concentration of ownership in
Israel: The wealthiest 16 families own 20 percent of the top 500 companies.
Conglomerates take super-profits from, in effect, monopolies in banking,
telecom, food retailing, media and so forth. But they are also
over-leveraged, and highly invested in real estate. Let the air out of the
housing market − by releasing a great deal more ILA land, for example − and
some will find themselves under water, kicking off a recession. Until we
break them up, we must live with their need for higher national growth rates
than can be achieved with a continuing occupation.
Without peace, in short, the “start-up nation” is bound to run down. And the
marches prove that the young of Tel Aviv − with global experiences and
cosmopolitan instincts − do not live in a bubble. It is Netanyahu and the
right, settlers and the Orthodox and Russian Putinists, who live in a
bubble. God willing, the streets of Tel Aviv will burst it even before the
streets of Ramallah do.
*Bernard Avishai is the author, most recently, of “The Hebrew Republic.” He
writes for numerous magazines, including Harper’s and The New York Times
Magazine. He teaches business at the Hebrew University and blogs at TPM Cafe
and Bernard Avishai Dot Com.*
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