[P2P-F] Fwd: Israel's Biggest Social Protest Demonstration Ever--some analysis

Tue Sep 6 09:53:42 CEST 2011

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From: Tikkun <info at spiritualprogressives.org>
Date: Sun, Sep 4, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Israel's Biggest Social Protest Demonstration Ever--some analysis
To: Michelsub2004 at gmail.com

     <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=uaCHWzITEHGZw3UeehUcjfSX3DmF6%2BI%2F>

Here are accounts from Israel's most serious intelllectual paper, Ha'aretz,
followed by some commentary by Israelis.
 Ha'aretz: Some 450,000 Israelis march at massive 'March of the Million'
rallies across country Protests held in major cities across Israel represent
of the biggest rallies in the country's history. Protest leader: We have
chosen to see instead of walking blindly toward the abyss. By Oz
Rosenberg<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ZPDpy%2BngttLtRmixBTwZOxH472wKSrBL>,
Ilan Lior and Gili CohenTags: Israel housing
protest<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WItxtukCtP0lqAfZlm7jFhH472wKSrBL>
 Tel Aviv<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OJDw0YR9vQMG6LEKkOkfcBH472wKSrBL>
 Israel protest<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=mgwI%2F%2FVMx%2F36t2i7IcaMYhH472wKSrBL>

Over 450,000 protesters attended rallies across the country last night
calling for social justice in what was the largest demonstration in Israeli
history.

The main protest took place in Tel Aviv's Kikar Hamedina, where some 300,000
people gathered after marching from Habima Square about two kilometers away.
Protest leader Yonatan Levy said the atmosphere was like "a second
Independence Day."
  [image: March of the Million - Moti Milrod - 3.9.2011]

'March of the Million' rally in Tel Aviv, Sept. 3, 2011.
  Photo by: Moti Milrod

Protest leaders Daphni Leef and National Student Union Chairman Itzik Shmuli
both addressed the Tel Aviv crowd. "Mr. Prime Minister, the new Israelis
have a dream and it is simple: to weave the story of our lives into Israel.
We expect you to let us live in this country. The new Israelis will not give
up. They demand change and will not stop until real solutions come," Shmuli
said.

"My generation always felt as though we were alone in this world, but now we
feel the solidarity," said Leef. "They tried to dismiss us as stupid
children, and as extreme leftists," but last night's countrywide protest
proved otherwise, she said.

Dr. Shiri Tannenbaum, a medical resident leading the young doctors' protest
against the recent collective wage agreement signed between the government
and the Israel Medical Association, also spoke at the Tel Aviv rally.
 [image: 'March of the Million' rally in Tel Aviv, Sept. 3, 2011.]
 'March of the Million' rally in Tel Aviv, Sept. 3, 2011.Nir Kafri
 1/11

In Jerusalem, an unprecedented 50,000 people filled Paris Square and the
surrounding streets, almost twice the number that attended previous protests
this summer.

Actress and comedienne Orna Banai told the crowd in the capital: "I am not
amused that there are hungry children here; that we have a soldier rotting
in captivity for five years; that Israel is one of the poorest examples
there are of human rights."

The chairman of the Hebrew University Student Union, Itai Gotler, said: "We
changed this summer. The voice of the mother, the teacher, the student, have
been heard...The fire of protest was lit in Tel Aviv, but the tent city in
Jerusalem shows that the protest belongs to all of us."
  [image: March of the Million - Moti Milrod - Sept. 3 2011]

Protesters at the 'March of the Million' rally in Tel Aviv, Sept. 3, 2011.
  Photo by: Moti Milrod

Gotler said the Jerusalem tent city was closing down, but pledged to
continue the struggle.

Yehuda Alush, 52, from Be'er Sheva, among a group of protesters from the
Negev who marched to the capital, said: "This protest must not stop or we'll
lose." In Haifa, the protest drew 40,000 people, many of whom waved red
flags.

The Haifa protest focused on the issue of discrimination against Arabs.
Shahin Nasser, representative of the Wadi Nisnas protest tent in Haifa said:
"Today we are changing the rules of the game. No more coexistence based on
hummus and fava beans. What is happening here is true coexistence, when
Arabs and Jews march together shoulder to shoulder calling for social
justice and peace. We've had it. Bibi, go home. Steinitz, go and don't come
back, Atias, good-bye and good riddance," he said, referring to the prime
minister, the finance minister and the housing minister, respectively.

The chairman of the University of Haifa's student union, Yossi Shalom, told
the crowd, gathered at the foot of the Bahai Gardens in the city's German
Colony, "There is no more beautiful sight than social solidarity. As a
student, this is the most important lesson I have learned in recent months."
At the protest in Afula the numbers reached 12,000; in Rosh Pina, 7,000 and
in Kiryat Shemona, 7,000.

Meanwhile, in the south, a total of more than 1,000 people took part in
rallies in Mitzpe Ramon and Arad. Ya'akov Laksi, an organizer of the protest
in Arad, told the crowd: "Social justice means Arad will no longer be called
an outlying town. We need to bring people work."

Laksi said organizers had expected only 100 protesters.

"We want the government to increase funding, not take from someone else,"
Eyal Adler, an organizer of the protest in Mitzpe Ramon said.

A protester who gave her name as Ruthie, said: "We are far from the eye of
the media, but we deserve no less funding and a change in the funding map of
Israel."

Concerns over possible rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip led the Home Front
Command to issue a directive prohibiting demonstrations in Be'er Sheva,
Ashdod and Ashkelon.

Eli Ashkenazi and Yanir Yagna contributed to this report

*****************************

Israel's social unrest means the people are back on top
   The balance of power has changed. The public understands that it has
power both vis-a-vis the government and vis-a-vis the monopolies and the
cartels. The political discourse has changed. By Nehemia
Shtrasler<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CvpU3lO5NxCyKWnRKKjZZBH472wKSrBL>

Public pressure has effected change. National Infrastructure Minister Uzi
Landau has capitulated and been forced to sign an order lowering the
gasoline retailers' profit margins by 19 agorot per liter. This is a
significant decrease, and one that Landau truly did not want to sign. Over
the past two years, he has become an enthusiastic supporter of the wealthy
and of large monopolies, and he has forgotten his role representing the
public.

In fact, in early 2010, Landau took steps to dismiss the chairman of the
Energy Authority, Amnon Shapira, simply because he dared to instruct the
Israel Electric Corporation, a monopoly, to reduce its tariffs after cheap
natural gas was introduced to its production system. Later, he waged war on
the Sheshinski committee to prevent it from raising taxes, to the degree
that it recommended, on oil exploration companies. Now he has stood behind
large fuel corporations and for months prevented their exaggerated profit
margin from being lowered - that is, until the social protest movement
defeated him.

For many years, the large fuel companies collected an excessive profit
margin, accumulating enormous profits at the expense of the public. But in
January, after the price of gasoline passed the NIS 7 mark, public outcry
erupted, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Landau to examine
the fuel companies' profit margin. Landau appointed a committee that
determined the margin must be lowered by 21.5 agorot per liter - but then he
refused to accept the committee's recommendation, accepting all kinds of
fabricated claims proffered by the fuel companies.

The companies also approached ministers and Knesset members from Likud,
asking them to put presure on Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz to save them
from the abhorrent decree, but Steinitz declined. The companies frightened
their employees by threatening that, if the margin was lowered, they would
have to become more "efficient"- which is to say, they would be dismissed -
and the terrified workers held a demonstration. Ofer Eini, chairman of the
Histadrut labor federation, also intervened to prevent the margin from being
lowered. Eini of course knows how to speak in lofty terms about the high
cost of living, but when it comes to actions, he supports the big workers'
committees and, in this case, the committees at the Paz, Delek and Sonol
companies - and, through them, the wealthy people who control those
companies.

However, when the pressure continued to mount, Landau discovered the real
culprit: the treasury. According to Landau, the Finance Ministry is "the
biggest tycoon that exists," since it takes 53 percent of the price of
gasoline in taxes. It is true that the Finance Ministry takes a great many
taxes, but where do these taxes go? They are earmarked, for example, to
provide many billions of shekels for the cost of the settlements, an
expenditure that Landau actually supports. They are earmarked for the
increase in the Israel Defense Forces' budget, so that it can be ready for
any operation or war forced upon us, since Landau is not prepared to even
dream of any peaceful solution to the conflict that entails giving up
territories. The taxes also go toward supporting new immigrants from the
former Soviet Union, which Landau also is in favor of, since they vote for
the Yisrael Beiteinu party. If all this is so, why does he complain that the
taxes are so high?

One thing is certain: Without the social protest movement, the fuel
companies' profit margin would not have budged by even one agora. Until the
drivers started raising their voices, the Fuel Authority kept quiet, and so
did the Finance Ministry. But it is not only the fuel companies who
understand now that the rules of the game have changed. The entire economy
understands. The supermarket chains would not have dropped the price of
cottage cheese from NIS 7.3 to NIS 5.9 were it not for the social protest
organized on Facebook. Nochi Dankner, who has the controlling share in
Super-Sol, would not have met with a group of young people who threatened a
boycott and would not have promised to bring down prices. The CEO of
Super-Sol, Efi Rosenhaus, would not have hastened to meet with a few
students from Tel Aviv University and vowed to lower the prices of 30 items
by 20 percent. And lo and behold, Mega too is lowering the price of 32 basic
products.

Of course, we have not forgotten about the promises made by Netanyahu
immediately after the protests began to build cheap housing, nor have we
forgotten about the Trajtenberg committee, which is planning to introduce
changes in the areas of taxation, competition, cost of living and apartment
prices. In other words, the balance of power has changed. The public
understands that it has power both vis-a-vis the government and vis-a-vis
the monopolies and the cartels. The political discourse has changed, and it
will have an influence on the results of the next elections.
 The settlers have already sworn they'll know how to manage without the IDF,
and the PA will have no control over the demonstrations that are meant to be
peaceful. By Yossi
Sarid<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wc72PRbODyV4rNZFAHUgyhH472wKSrBL>

September is here and we still don't know what the month will bring. But why
isn't it clear when we can clearly see what's coming? We no longer need the
astrologers in the intelligence services to warn about the evil, which it's
too late to prevent. It's also unnecessary to ask the parties about their
intentions because their influence on events is marginal. We're marching
toward disaster with our eyes open.

The Palestinian Authority declares that it has no intention of launching a
third intifada, the Israeli government announces that it has no intention of
causing a bloodbath with its decisions, and both can be believed in this
case. The defense minister revealed this week that we've bought nonlethal
riot-control equipment, and the Israel Defense Forces is training the
security coordinators and emergency squads in the settlements to deal with
defiant parades.

None of that will help, and we'll remember what September did to us, though
this year September is liable to fall in October or November. The
conflagration isn't always immediate. The Israeli government and the PA
don't really have control over the territories, which for a while now have
been a no-man's-land.

In around 20 days the request to recognize Palestine as a state and a member
of the United Nations will be submitted. The results of the vote are known
in advance: With or without an American veto in the Security Council, a huge
majority will support the proposal. President Shimon Peres would do well to
spare himself and us his pathetic rearguard speech, which won't divert a
single country from its position. And it's not a good idea for him to be
seen as the servant of two masters: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. The president should let the foreign
minister reap the storm sowed by his whirlwind.

I remember November 29, 1947 very well. I was a boy of 7, and I too was
overcome by overwhelming joy. My mother forbade me from dancing in the
streets - it's dangerous there outside with a war approaching - but the
circle swept me up. People will be swept up in Palestine too. True, there is
no focused writing on the wall, because the entire wall is the writing: Very
soon they will be disappointed over there to discover that their miserable
lives aren't changing. But for a few days they'll ignore the subjugation and
celebrate the redemption.

For us in Rehovot there were no roadblocks in the center of the moshava, or
settlements surrounding it. Had there been, it's quite possible the joy
would have had us climbing the fences. Maybe soldiers won't be the first to
fire at the boy climbing. But settlers will fire at him, collecting a "price
tag" for everyone to see. They won't allow those unruly kids to behave with
chutzpah and have already sworn they'll know how to manage without the IDF.
The PA will have no control over the demonstrations that are meant to be
peaceful. And the Israeli government has no control over the settlers. And
why be naive: On both sides there are people seeking a little more blood,
which will grease the wheels of the decision - one more battle and we've won
the war.

So what else isn't clear, then? The PA will collapse after Israel cuts it
off from its financial pipelines, and Congress, which is drunk on tea rather
than wine, will dry up the U.S. assistance. The new-old situation will force
the Palestinian leadership to give up its fictitious rule and return the
keys to Netanyahu. It must be urged to do so and bring down the curtain on
the farce.

Israel will assume the burden of occupation with all its tasks and fears; it
will renew its days as of old, just when there's a new spirit, another
discourse and a different order of priorities. Instead of free education for
preschoolers in Israel, Israel will invest billions abroad - in education,
health and garbage collection in Nablus and Hebron.

There is no way of removing the yoke from our necks without breaking the
head; there is no way of getting rid of the territories entirely without one
more round of withdrawal symptoms. And we're cured.\

*******************

*Uri Avnery*

*September 3, 2011*

* *

*                                                            **Dogs of War*

* *

*Such terrifying dogs have not been seen since the Hound of the
Baskervilles. *

* *

*They have been bred by an ardent admirer of the late “Rabbi” Meir Kahane,
who was branded by the Israeli Supreme Court as a fascist. Their task is to
protect the settlements and attack Palestinians. They are settler-dogs, or,
rather, dog-settlers.*

* *

*All our TV stations have reported on them at length and lauded their
effectiveness and ardor.*

* *

*All in preparation for “September”.*

* *

* *

*SEPTEMBER IS not just the name of a month, the seventh in the old Roman
calendar. It is the symbol of a terrible danger, an unspeakable existential
menace.*

* *

*In the next few weeks, the Palestinians will ask the UN to recognize the
State of Palestine. They have already mustered a large majority in the
General Assembly. After that, according to the official assessment of our
army, all hell will break loose. Multitudes of Palestinians will rise,
attack the “Separation” Wall, storm the settlements, confront the army,
create chaos.*

* *

*“The Palestinian Authority is planning a bloodbath,” Avigdor Lieberman
cheerfully asserted. And when Lieberman predicts violence, it would be
unwise to ignore him.*

* *

*For months now, our army has been preparing for just such an eventuality.
This week it announced that it is training the settlers, too, and telling
them exactly when they are allowed to shoot to kill. Thus it confirms what
we all know: that there is no clear distinction between the army and the
settlers – many settlers are officers in the army, and many officers live in
settlements. “The army defends all Israelis, wherever they are,” is the
official line.*

* *

*One of the scenarios the army is preparing for, it was stated, is for
Palestinians shooting at soldiers and settlers “from inside the mass
demonstrations”. That is an ominous statement. I have been at hundreds of
demonstrations and never witnessed anyone shooting “from inside the
demonstration”. Such a person would have to be insanely irresponsible, since
he would expose all the people around him to deadly retaliation. But it is a
handy pretext for shooting at non-violent protesters.*

* *

*It sounds so ominous, because it has happened already in the past. After
the first intifada, which was considered a Palestinian success story (and
brought about the Oslo agreement), our army diligently prepared for the
second one. The chosen instruments were sharpshooters.*

* *

*The second (“al-Aqsa”) intifada started after the breakdown of the 2000
Camp David conference and Ariel Sharon’s deliberately provocative “visit” to
the Temple Mount. The Palestinians held non-violent mass demonstrations. The
army responded with selective killings. A sharpshooter accompanied by an
officer would take position in the path of the protest, and the officer
would point out selected targets – protesters who looked like “ringleaders”.
They were killed.*

* *

*This was highly effective. Soon the non-violent demonstrations ceased and
were replaced by very violent (“terrorist”) actions. With those the army was
back on familiar ground.*

* *

*All in all, during the second intifada 4546 Palestinians were killed, of
whom 882 were children, as against 1044 Israelis, 716 of them civilians,
including 124 children. *

* *

*I am afraid that the preparations for the third intifada, which is
anticipated to start next month, are proceeding on the same lines. But the
circumstances would be quite different. After the events in Egypt and Syria,
Palestinian protesters may react differently this time, and the “bloodbath”
may be much more severe. So will international and Arab reactions. I imagine
posters condemning Binyamin al-Assad and Bashar Netanyahu.*

* *

*But most Israelis are not worried. They believe that the entire scenario
has been invented by Netanyahu as a trick to end the huge social protest
movement that is rocking Israel. “The young protesters demand Social Justice
and a Welfare State, like children demanding ice cream while disaster is
lurking around the corner,” as one of the colonels (ret.) put it.   *

* *

* *

*THE SETTLERS and their dogs loom large in the upcoming scenarios.*

* *

*That is quite logical, since the settlers now play a pivotal role in the
conflict. It is they who prevent any peace agreement, or even meaningful
peace negotiations. *

* *

*It is quite simple: any peace between Israel and the Palestinian people
will necessarily be based on ceding the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the
Gaza Strip to the future State of Palestine. A world-wide consensus on this
is now in place. The only question is where exactly the border will run,
since there is also a consensus about minor mutually agreed swaps of
territory.*

* *

*This means that peace would necessarily entail the removal of a large
number of settlements and the evacuation of the settlers throughout the West
Bank.*

* *

*The Settlers and their allies dominate the present Israeli government
coalition. They object to giving up even one square inch of occupied
territory of the country God has promised us. (Even settlers who do not
believe in God do believe that God has promised us the land.) Because of
this, there are no peace negotiations, no freeze on building activities in
the settlements, no move of any kind towards peace. *

* *

*The settlers went to their locations in the West Bank specifically for this
purpose: to create “facts on the ground” that would prevent any possibility
of the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. Therefore it is quite
immaterial whether it is the settlers who prevent the return of the occupied
territories for peace, or whether the government uses the settlers for this
purpose. It comes to the same: the settlers block any peace effort. *

* *

*As the Americans would put it: It’s the settlers, stupid.*

* *

* *

*SOME NICE Israelis are indeed playing stupid, or really are. *

* *

*It is now the fashion in certain circles to “embrace” the settlers in the
name of national unity. Jews should not quarrel among themselves, they say,
drawing on ancient Ghetto wisdom. Settlers are people like us. *

* *

*Prominent among those who say so is Shelly Yachimovitch, a member of the
Knesset and one of six candidates for the chair(wo)manship of the moribund
Labor Party. For years she has done a good job as an advocate of social
justice, never wasting a word on peace, occupation, settlements, Palestine
and such trifles. Now, as part of her campaign, she has come all out for
loving the settlers. As she put it: “I certainly do not see the settlement
enterprise as a sin and crime. At the time, it was completely consensual. It
was the Labor Party which promoted the settlement in the territories. That
is a fact, a historical fact. “*

* *

*Some believe that Yachimovitch is only pretending to feel this way, in
order to garner mainstream votes for a takeover of the party, and that she
intends  to merge what remains of the party with Kadima, where she would try
to displace Tzipi Livni and perhaps even become Prime Minister.*

* *

*Perhaps. But I have a lurking suspicion that she really believes what she
is saying – and that is an awful thing to say about any politician, male or
female, of course.*

* *

* *

*BUT SERIOUSLY, there is no way to embrace the settlers and fight for social
justice at the same time. It just can’t be done, even though some of the
leaders of the social protest movement advocate this on tactical grounds.*

* *

*There can be no Israeli welfare state while the war goes on. The border
incidents of the last two weeks show how easy it is to divert public opinion
and silence the protests when the banner of security is unfurled. And how
easy it is for the government to prolong any incident. *

* *

*Sowing the fear of “September” is yet another example. *

* *

*But the reasons for the impossibility of separating social justice from
security go deeper. Serious social reforms need money, lots of money. Even
after reforming the tax system – more “progressive” direct taxes, less
“regressive” indirect taxes – and breaking the cartels of the “tycoons”,
tens of billion of dollars will be needed to rescue our schools, our
hospitals and our social services. *

* *

*These billions can only come from the military budget and the settlements.
Huge sums are invested in the settlements – not just in heavily subsidized
housing for the settlers, government salaries for many settlers (a far
higher percentage that in the general population), but also for the
infrastructure (roads, electricity and water supply etc.) and the large
number of troops needed to defend them. The preparations for “September”
show again how much this costs.*

* *

* *

*BUT EVEN this is not the full story. Beyond all these facts there is the
main reason for the deformation of Israel: the conflict itself.*

* *

*Because of the conflict, we are obliged to keep a huge military
establishment. We pay for the armed forces, per capita, far more than the
citizens of any Western country. Israel, a country of a mere 7.5 million
people, maintains the fourth or fifth largest military establishment in the
world. US military aid pays for only a small part of this.  *

* *

*Therefore, putting an end to the war is a necessary precondition for any
real effort to turn Israel into a “Scandinavian” welfare state, with a
maximum of social justice. The conflict is not just one item among many that
must be considered. It is the main item.*

* *

*You can love the settlers or hate them, oppose them or embrace them as much
as you like – the fact remains that the settlements are by far the main
obstacle to peace and the welfare state. Not just because of their cost, not
just because of the pogroms their inhabitants carry out from time to time,
not just because of the way they dominate the political system. But because
of their very existence.*

* *

*Unlike the hound of the Baskervilles, the dogs of the settlements are
barking loudly. It is the sound of war. *

  ------------------------------

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