Israel’s ‘Social Protesters’ Live in a Fantasy World
The attempt to revive the “social protest” in Israel this summer has so far failed to attract the large crowds that characterized last year’s demonstrations. The protests are succeeding in hitting the headlines in Israel, however, after demonstrators clashed with the police in Tel Aviv, and a number of acts of vandalism took place.
These protests reflect a curious situation in which successful security policies are enabling a section of Israelis to live in a kind of fantasy world.
The protests reignited after police arrested one of the symbols of last year’s demonstrations, Daphne Leef. The arrest appears to have been entirely legal. Leef and some of her colleagues attempted without permission to establish a tent camp in an affluent area of Tel Aviv.
But while apparently above-board, the apprehending of Leef triggered fury among the core of activists of the social protest movement.
The following day, more than 6,500 people converged on the city’s Habima Square in an unlicensed demonstration. The protest quickly degenerated into a riot. Two main traffic arteries were blocked. Protesters then broke into and vandalized branches of the Hapoalim, Leumi, and Discount banks.
An additional demonstration in Tel Aviv this weekend attracted around 10,000 participants. Rallies elsewhere in the country were much smaller.
There are two main reasons for the failure so far of the revived protest to attract a mas following:
Firstly, despite the slogans of the protesters, Israelis are generally aware that in uncertain times, their own economy is doing quite well. There was moderate GDP growth of 3% last year. The Bank of Israel forecasts 3.1% growth this year, and 3.4% next year. Inflation remains stable at around 2.4%. Unemployment in 2011, meanwhile, was at its lowest for 32 years – averaging 5.6% of the adult workforce.
With exports hit by the slowdown in global trade, these are respectable figures. There is as a consequence a generally solid public confidence in the current stewards of the economy. The protesters point to some real remaining issues and problems, yet have no apparent coherent suggestions for how to rectify them.
The second, more fundamental reason why the “social protests” appear to have lost relevance is because they ignore some more urgent aspects of reality. Last year’s demonstrations took place at the height of the media-generated illusion that peaceful protest was about to bring profound, democratic change to the Arab world. Today, this fiction has been laid bare.
All around, the Middle East is roiling.
In Egypt, a representative of an Islamist movement committed to Israel’s destruction has just won the presidency.
In Syria, the Iran-led regional bloc is engaged in a brutal life or death struggle with a largely Sunni uprising against it. There is a real concern that long-range missiles and even chemical weapons could be transferred into Hizballah-controlled Lebanon if the Assad regime senses that the endgame is drawing near.
From Gaza, the local representatives of Sunni Islamism have been in recent days raining down rockets and missiles on outlying Israeli communities.
In the midst of all this, the activities of a small group of individuals who want to pretend that there is a socio-economic crisis in Israel and that breaking the windows of banks is an appropriate response to it are unsurprisingly failing to find a huge public echo.
The much clearer overt presence of far-left elements and pro-Palestinian slogans in the protests this year is a further deterrent to broader sections of the population.
The fundamental issue facing Israeli society is whether it can continue to function and flourish as a small enclave of democracy, Jewish sovereignty, and economic success, at the edge of a hostile sea of dictatorship, failure, and political Islam.
At the center of this is the question of whether policies can be enacted which keep the dangers sufficiently distant to enable the citizenry to live normal lives, raise families, and pursue economic interests.
In the 2000-2006 period, the ability of Israel to achieve this came into serious question. Islamist insurgencies erupting out of Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank made the conflict an unavoidable presence for Israelis.
This is no longer the case, if precariously. The Second Intifada was broken militarily. Hizballah to the north and Hamas to the south, The Muslim Brothers in Egypt, the Syrian civil war, all are — at least for the moment — being kept from impacting on the comfortable daily lives of the inhabitants of Israel’s center.
The full restaurants, high levels of tourism, and flourishing cultural life are among the more pleasant fruits of this. Still, most Israelis maintain a strong sense of the surrounding dangers. They understand that if they can pursue normal lives, this is not a reason to relax their guard, but rather a reason to maintain it.
The social protesters, of course, represent that element which does not understand this. In the manner of adolescents, they think that security and prosperity just sort of happen by themselves. So they want to play at being in Europe or North America, advocating other-wordly policies, vandalizing property, attacking police.
With their evident detachment from the realities of the neighborhood, they are one of the more ridiculous manifestations of Israel’s success in keeping the wolves relatively far from the door.
Yet one of the prices of freedom is that not all of its recipients will use it well. The same apparently goes for security. The very possibility of citizens who are giddily unaware of the sober realities their country faces is itself a paradoxical proof of Israel’s continued success in maintaining itself as a fertile enclave on the edge of a wasteland.
Yes, precisely.
I think the figure of 10,000 or so demonstrators is over-stated. Others have said only 5,000 morons, useful idiots, spoiled kids, misfits, the economically illiterate, & assorted ill-intentioned mentally deranged anarchists.
The media, as always, exagerates the numbers.
Also, you should have mentioned the role of The New Israel Fund in financing this BS.
There is a good post at Zionist Conspiracy by Prof. Steven Plaut if anyone is interested.
Right, Terry, police estimates were 5000.
Hang on, the last lot of protests were Soros-funded. Can I not assume that this lot are also Soros-funded?
They would therefore have nothing to do with actual protest, rather they would be an extension of the efforts of Soros et al to destabilise Israel, something he, at least, has wanted for a long time.
Ironically, it is success itself that creates the conditions for a disconnect from reality. You can always tell how well a person’s life is going by the triviality of their criticisms of others in a social context and on top of that, the double standards they can get away with.
As I was just saying to a friend: Is there any way a civilzation can avoid going from Conrad Hilton to Paris Hilton? A generation that creates prosperity simultaneously creates a generation of lazy idiots.
This actually might be unavoidable. It might be the life cycle of a society.
It may be. Success creates free time. Separated from simple thoughts of survival, faddist cultural conceits can emerge about who is equal and who is not. Success itself can be derided and mischaracterized.
But if an asteroid hit tomorrow and survival came once again into play, the first things to go would be vegetarianism, feminism, accusations of racism, institutionalized blame and excuses, gay marriage and all the rest. It doesn’t mean we should act as if we are in medieval times, but ignoring reality can be dangerous.
We’ve come a long way from simple cycles of rain and growing, and 2/3 of the world is still living firmly within the bounds of a dog-eat-dog reality. That’s why Latin America so easily enters the states illegally. We are overwhelmed by our lack of a survival instinct and plain common sense. Liberals and their political correctness are the most dangerous entity in America. It’s why people say they want to destroy America.
Liberals are farther away from reality of any group in America and as far as I am concerned they are living on my dime – the entire bunch of sad sacks.
Astrid August 16, 2011 You remembered all those conovs? I’m crying my pretty eyeballs out while reading this; I nearly died of dehydration (Ok this is exag already) For the longest time I was wondering when are you going to blog about me. (Hahaha. Conceited much? BUT HEY, you love me right? You conceited, I’m conceited. Great minds think alike!) I just thought of another formula (the Joseph the Dreamer one; will let you know soon) What I really, truly wanna say is:Hi I’m Astrid. I love you, my friend.
I don’t expect the msm to catch onto this, but the I’m just not pro-Likud is a trope used by pepole who are generally anti-Israel, or at at least anti any this world Israel as opposed to the Israel that is everyone’s moral summer camp. The not pro-Likud line was used during the year when Likud wasn’t part of the Israeli governing coalition. It doesn’t necessarily actually bespeak any real knowledge of Israeli politics.
Gosh, what an impressive piece of propaganda. Here’s an obvious example for the lies and inaccuracies that this is based on: ‘unlicensed demonstration’ – which, according to Israeli law, does not require a license. So, apparently, police are justified in violently attacking someone for illicit walking-down-the-street. See this for perspective:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/baghdad-congo-tel-aviv.premium-1.447790
Right, an article in Haaretz, the Palestinian paper printed in Hebrew (and, sadly, English, since almost no Israelis read Haaretz ) is really credible, is that a joke?
Better, read an article in Israel Hayom by Daniel Doron, ”Don’t Politicize the Protest Movement.”
Well, if the best you can do is ad hominem (and Itai Anghel is a respected journalist across the board) and resort to a paper run by the prime-minister office pravda style, I have nothing more to add. Enjoy.
Setting up camp is not protest — it’s trespassing, squatting.
“The protests are succeeding in hitting the headlines in Israel, however, after demonstrators clashed with the police in Tel Aviv, and a number of acts of vandalism took place.”
Two lines in an article is what u consider an impressive piece of propaganda??
Obviously haarez is diametricly opposed to this writers opinion- in its very essence haarezt is socialy conscious newspaper. Such a newspaper would almost surely support the protests and therefore thats their opinion and being as this is an opinion piece what relevance is there in quoting a different opinion? Its like bringing an ahmedinjhad rebuttal speech to bibi netanyahus speech in front of the congress. Obviously no one cares what ahmedinejhad has to say.
And concerning weather or not the protests were legal.. What does it matter? Do you deny that vandalism took place. Is vandalism legal? And if a cop hit a passerby obviously ithats wrong but was that the point of the article? Was the article about police violence?
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Thats always a good idea. It not only give the other party more iomfroatinn about you it also looks professional.I always attatched few things in my signature:1) My title in my company2) My contact iomfroatinn such as e-mails, phone3) My websites URL’s4) My location
As for the protestors all I can say is that there is no one worse deceived than those that are self deceived.
The “social protesters” are irrelevant. Why not write about the charedim/ultra-Orthodox…and the threat they pose to Israel’s future (if they don’t change their ways)?
The charedim number some 800,000 (10% of the population) & are growing by at least 4% a year. In a generation, 33% of Jews (in Israel) will be charedi…and 25% of Israeli citizens will be charedi (including Arabs).
Why is this a (potential) problem? To put it bluntly: charedim are parasites, who survive through government handouts, they freeload off the rest of the country (i.e. the taxpayer).
65% of charedi men do not work. They don’t support themselves. So how do they survive? By freeloading off the government — they get shameful government monthly welfare checks, subsidized housing, subsidized education, child allowances, tremendous discounts in municipal taxes etc…
In 1979, just 20.9% of charedi men did not work, compared to 65% today.
According to the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, 48% of primary school pupils in 2008 were charedi or Arabs. In 30 years (2040), 78% of Israel’s primary school students will be charedi or Arabs.
Put aside Iran, Egypt, the Palestinians…tell me how Israel can survive – considering its internal problems – 800,000 charedim/ultra-Orthodox, and 1.6 million Arabs…How can Israel survive another few decades, if that?
The Rambam:
…[But] one who makes up his mind to involve himself with Torah and not to work, and to support himself from charity, has profaned G-d’s Name and brought the Torah into contempt, extinguished the light of religion, brought evil upon himself and has taken away his life from the World-to-Come, for it is forbidden to benefit in this world from the words of Torah… (Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:10)
And what of the danger to the country posed by the anti-religious, who discriminate against those who observe mitzvot, particulary Shabbat and Yomim Tovim (not just charedim but dati leumi and edut mizrachi), demand to eat forbidden foods that Rambam taught one should not eat, encourage wholesale violation of shemittah, glorify sexual misconduct that the Rambam condemned, ridicule the Torah, and ignore everything the Rambam wrote, but suddenly become his biggest supporters on this one issue?
What does that have to do with my post?
What do you think about the (current) charedi lifestyle? (i.e. men don’t work, don’t support their families, they survive through shameful government handouts…)
The charedim are a modern aberration. It is a new invention. They are modern. They are reformers…
In 1979, just 20.9% of charedi men did not work, compared to 65% today.
The (current) charedi lifestyle is a disgrace. The charedim “[have] profaned G-d’s Name and brought the Torah into contempt, (and) extinguished the light of religion” with their shameful lifestyle.
The Baal Shem Tov (the founder of Chassidus) taught that the tailor is equal to the scholarly rabbi who studies all day, as long as he puts his heart into his work and does it honestly and to serve his creator. In the charedi community, men who work are in essence failures, and are considered second class…
In a few decades Israel will be majority-Arab-Charedi. Then the fun will start…
Are you capable of responding to what I have written?
I will reply to you as I reply to those who have hysterics about the welfare state:
What cannot continue, will not.
At some point, there isn’t enough to go around, and adults who never have contributed will be the first excluded from what’s left. That is the way of the world; it’s painful, but it’s how things work out in the end.
So calm down. This group, despite their current behavior, will have to either modify those behaviors, or starve.
How much wine should I allow for each peorsn at a tasting event?I’m planning a wine tasting event as a fundraiser. We’ll be serving 4 or 5 different wines. How much wine should be purchased? Since it’s a fundraiser, we don’t want to lose money by ending up with unopened wine. Please give quantities such as 1 bottle of each wine for every 5 people, 10 people, etc.
You call the charedim parasites I call them academic scholars- just like those scholars “anshei ruach- men of spirit” in the leftist academia.*see A.B Yehoshua Amos Oz and many other social or political studies proffessors in Haifa, Telaviv BenGurion universities. (And while your at it check out the art departments.) (some of whom recieve huge budgets and then go on bds campaigns) Why are they not parasites? They both study all day. The difference between them is the one goes home to raise a family on an extremely economical and tight budget the other goes to the boardwalk cafe to sip and sushi and prognosticate about the world at large. The one practices (or at least tries to) what he preaches- for ask any charedi, there is no point in learning torah other than for learning how to live life. (so the emphasis is on the pactical living and not theory) The other very much Aristotularly takes all his other worldly morals ethics and far out social/anthroplogic theories and either uses them @ his convenience or and dumps them in the garbage as he goes on to lead a hedonistic life of pleasure seeking always striving for more physical pleasure or more honour accolades (notice how concerned with apearences they always are). the weekend do good projects that he is wont to do and imediately tell one and all about (blog about) such as save the cats and cow flatulence awareness marathons, and the spartan vegetarian diet of soy and wheat grass which costs more per week than a big charedi families’ monthly budget; all these are just to placate the poor soul which exists nonetheless.. just enough to shut the soul up so he can continue on his pleasure seeking.
Charedim are more trust worhty more moral more economical, create wealth by adding to the population their cholent tastes great and they are on the whole warm and giving and exremely unstandoffish which may offend or be distastful to leftist snobs (who for some reason dont mind the Eretreans or sudaneses’ usophistacatedness. Ill take a charedi any day over a secular non deodorant wearing snob. (my parents are charedim and they both work and pay taxes, they are the most honest and innocent people i know) (oh and all their sons went to the army)
This statement is very, very apt and it applies very well to us here in America.
“Yet one of the prices of freedom is that not all of its recipients will use it well. The same apparently goes for security.”
The protesters here in America (of just about anything that comes to their minds at any time) plainly haven’t the faintest idea of conditions in most other parts of the world…have not traveled very much, have not accumulated much wisdom or experience….but, oh, my…….they can put on a demonstration.
We’ve got a potential mess of mindlessness coming up on our Independence Day in Washington D.C.
it’s a shame that the condition of adolescence (in all ages) can’t simply be “deleted”.
Yet one of the prices of freedom is that not all of its recipients will use it well. The same apparently goes for security. The very possibility of citizens who are giddily unaware of the sober realities their country faces is itself a paradoxical proof of Israel’s continued success in maintaining itself as a fertile enclave on the edge of a wasteland.
I’ve had great respect for the endurance and success of Israel over the long haul.
But in recent years, the country seems to be falling into some of the less attractive patterns that accompany success, the full range, from demands of ultra extreme right wing orthodox to dumb and dumber exhibitions in the streets.
And you’ve got generations (as in America) who don’t really understand the price of liberty, on a visceral level.
What has happened to Kibbutzim vigor, that admirable gut driven strength that was projected by Israel in its younger years ?
Maybe large (area wise) America can absorb idiocy in all its forms and appearances (e.g. “the Occupiers”) but it seems to me that tiny Israel nestled there among idiots that want to obliterate it can’t afford these types of stupid behaviors.
It has been a long time since I lived in Israel, but the phenomena you describe I noticed there must have increased over the years, that is a tendency for some Israelis to pretend that they are a normal country, surrounded by neighbors who have the values as themselves. It’s probably a defense mechanism of some sort.
Indeed. There’s a satirical song by Teapacks (an Israeli band) referring to this denial. I can’t quite translate it to English, but it goes more or less like that (and it rhymes in Hebrew):
“No, it’s not for real
It’s just a prank from an old movie,
No, it isn’t true,
We are not in the Middle East”
Denial is certainly a big part of it, but the bigger part is that culturally Israelis identify with the West, follow the trends in the West and feel a part of the Western world. We may listen to and create Middle Eastern music, eat Middle Eastern food, and use some Arabic words, but that’s about all we have in common with the regional hegemonic culture. And that includes Middle Eastern Jews. After all, the Jews didn’t create the predominant values and political systems in the Middle East – these were created by Muslims after the Arab-Muslim conquest. Jews had very little influence or none at all on the direction of the culture. Jews were dominant in music in some Arab countries and in certain other occupations. In some periods in some countries, particularly in the early 20th century in places like Egypt and Iraq, when the local culture was influenced by the West and before it was influenced by the radical version of nationalism and Nazism, the status of the Jews improved and there were some Jews in positions of power, but that was short-lived. While Middle Eastern Jews identify with some aspects of the Middle Eastern culture, it doesn’t reflect them when it comes to the most profound cultural pricnciples. Basically the Middle Eastern dominant culture is Islam. Jews, Christians and pagans predate Islam, but were turned into powerless and often persecuted minorities. Israelis feel we belong in this culture in some respects – our language is Middle Eastern, so is half or so of our music and our food, and some of our social gestures – for instance, while it’s less common than in Arab societies, Israeli men are more likely than European men to greet each other with a kiss. But these commonalities are too superficial to identify with the surrounding culture, particularly when the surrounding culture wants to destroy you.
Israel is too different for either side to identify with the other. The Western left thinks of cultural differences in terms of superficial aesthetic conventions, while the meaningful essence of it is the different moral code. Israelis see the way women and gays are treated next door and see severe oppression and persecution. The next door Muslim society sees Israeli liberalism and to them it’s the epitome of moral corruption. We define ignorance as illiteracy, deficiency in scientific education, and the lack of general knowledge about your culture and foreign cultures. Islam defines ignorance (jahiliya) as anything that preceded Islam, the revelation of divine truth. To us the Enlightenment is a European philosophical movement that placed humans and reason in its center. To them the Enlightenment (and they use the same word) is the divine revalation brought by Muhammad. To us tyranny is the rule of an unelected strongman or party that forces their will on society without the ability of society to replace them, topple them or affect their policies and the political order. In Islam tyranny is the rule of men over other men, as opposed to the rule of god over men (through a perfect human representative and conduit on earth, the ideal caliph) – man-made law is a rule of men over other men and therefore oppressive by definition, as opposed to god-given law. Which is why you hear some Muslims claim that democracy is oppressive (it’s man-made law and therefore oppressive by definition). These are a few examples of the kind of cultural differences that matter, as opposed to what kind of music you hear. Israeli music is influenced by many music styles from both the West and East, but being open to many different styles of music isn’t the same as being open to many different moral values because moral values can contradict each other. Liking one style of music doesn’t nullify your ability to like or tolerate another very different style of music, but if you believe in the equality of women in opportunities and before the law it does nullify your ability to morally approve of the oppression of women. Moral differences matter more than superficial aesthetic differences, they are more vital in defining your identity, so generally Israelis, at least Israeli Jews, identify with the West and see oursleves as culturally Western, which means we also follow Western trends, too often neglecting to see that different circumstances should affect our policies and behavior. Israel is sort of a Western bubble in an Islamic ocean. Living inside the bubble, it’s sometimes too easy to forget what the ocean is really like.
The main difference between the Israeli center-right, or pragmatic right (as distinct from strongly ideological right and religious right), and the left is the extent of recognition of the cultural differences with our neighbors and the circumstancial differences with the West, or as commonly expressed here in the phrase, “this is not Scandinavia” (apparently some people fail to notice this evident truth and need to be reminded). The left imports every trend, – political, ideological, cultural and educational, – from the West. Therefore, while it’s PC to say just about anything about orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jews, to suggest that Islam might not be 100% compatible with democracy is blasphemy against leftist PC beliefs, which are just as rational as any religious belief. In their heads the leftists live in a bad neighborhood in New York, and what’s making it bad is us. The more to the left you are the least you’re willing to acknowledge that the Middle East is not Scandinavia. Center-leftists, like center-rightists, are less dogmatic and therefore more flexible and can change their behavior and policy recommendations when formerly held opninions are refuted by reality. But as the far left becomes more and more dominant in leftist movements and parties, center-leftists like me move to the center right because there’s less and less room for realists in the contemporary left.
Since last year’s demonstration several things have changed. The Muslim Brotherhood came to power next door. Though the parliamentary election was annuled, the Egyptian people sure made it clear what kind of change they want. That was a reminder that it’s not a prank from an old movie – we really do live in the Middle East. Another very important development is that the collapse of European socialism has become more visible and therefore more often discussed in the media. Whether they call it a collapse of socialism or not, more people are getting where a constant expansion of the welfare state leads. In the past people could bring Europe as a model to follow. Today less people want to follow this model to its final destination. Another factor is that the government gave in on some issues following the demonstrations last year and is also responding now. Of course, for the leftists it’s far from enough, but the people who were affected by those changes became more placid. Among the demonstrators last year there were also those demonstrating for the release of Gilad Shalit. Now Gilad Shalit is home, so this part of the demonstrations is gone too. The demonstrators this year also strated on the wrong foot. Besides avoiding the regional and global realities, this year they are ignoring the local culture as well – demonstrations in Israel have to be strictly non-violent, including damage to property, since Israelis don’t like riots, violence and vandalism. This is not London or Athenes. The more they do this the more public support they’d lose. The demonstrators obviously decided to follow this time the Western model also in being more aggressive, not taking into account that the locals are less sympathetic to rioters than Europeans. We have enough problems without that. In addition they did it while there were rocket attacks on the south. Tel Aviv and many of the surrounding more affluent cities are percieved as a beacon of the left, and as spoiled brats living in their own bubble, derogatorily called ‘tzfonbonim’ (a combination of ‘north’ and ‘bonbons’ – north originally referring to the affluent northern Tel Aviv). So it was perceived by many as spoiled lefty ‘tzfonbonim’ rioting in the streets while the real disadvantaged folks in the south were running to the shelters several times a day, fearing for their lives. The ‘tzfonbonic’ leadership hardly seems an authentic representative of the disadvantaged. They were also somewhat more open this time about their true political colors, thereby allienating right wing voters. If the leadership doesn’t change or joined by more authentic leaders, it may not gather the same steam as before.
But all that might be eclipsed by perhaps the most important factor analysts tend to neglect – whether the artists will join this round of demonstrations as they did last time. And I’m not talking about the influence of the artists, but about free concerts. Last year many popular Israeli musicians performed for free at the centers of the demonstrations. This had attracted large audiences who went there for the “free ticket”, so to speak. If they do it again this year, hundreds of thousands will fill the public squares again.
Occupy Tel Aviv… left/liberal dumb*sses just like they are here.
The entire West lives in a fantasy world. These social protesters, and others like them, are the work product of news entertainers, teachers and governments working around them. No, it’s not a conspiracy with a group and a plan, it’s an organic confusion induced by loosely coupled organizations and individuals operating around them, controlling the obeisant “protesters” around them without even knowing it.
Until this essay I thought that the apogee of self-defeating confusion was Obama’s apology speech in Cairo. It’s us that were wrong and they who were victims. Looking at Israel, we see that even in the immediate and present sense of threat, the choice made to live a pious fantasy in the face of imminent destruction.
Don’t believe the fraudulent term Islamist. They are Moslems, a unified organization called the Ummah that shares the outspoken belief that Jews should be destroyed by mass murder as soon as possible. It’s a tradition, an ideology cooked up in a milieu of excuse making by impoverished, illiterate and savage Arabs. The tradition is easy to prove as true. The Holy Prophet Mohammed said it best: Just give orders to kill every Jew in the country.
Except, now, the country is Israel, not the Arabian Peninsula.
Alarmed Pig Farmer wrote, “These social protesters, and others like them, are the work product of news entertainers, teachers and governments working around them. No, it’s not a conspiracy with a group and a plan, it’s an organic confusion induced by loosely coupled organizations and individuals operating around them, controlling the obeisant “protesters” around them without even knowing it.”
Wrong! It is about the need to make a living. If someone is willing to pay to support “social protest”, then someone will be willing to take their money. The small group of professional protesters are all paid. No one can live on air, you know!
Last year’s demonstrations were driven by issues that touched many people — combines setting high prices on basic foodstuffs such as a cottage cheese and rents for university students running out of control. Those prices were driven down and executives lost their jobs and I think the students were helped as well. This year what do these demonstrators want? Who knows? As for the haredim, the government finally seems to be going to deal with the key sore point about this group, their institutionalized and semi-legal draft dodging. They don’t have to go in the army but they should do community service. If they would chip in a little bit to society, people wouldn’t mind their freeloading so much.
It used to be that education (1-12, and for some four years of college) trained the young to become adult. Somewhere in the mid-seventies, as the Bill Bernadette Dohrn Ohmstein Ayerses of the ivy-beleagured-silver-spooned-che-mao-loving-perma-rebels-seeking-causes juneteenthed American education (and by close association the early education systems in Isreal, England, Canada, Australia) that basic goal of education changed.
It became a radical indoctrination into permanent adolescence. Life as a forever liberal Jewish summer camp. It was helped by the rise since the early 1920′s of tract housing developments which were immediately filled out by folks of similar ages and aspirations, just like Camp Red Star Shalom of the Lake was to become in the mid-1930s and ever since.
The adult ethos of such a life is exemplified by Micheal Eisner ex of Disney, or Ruth Bader Ginsberg become Commissar High Judge of an ex constitutioal Rebuplic , but in ones twenties and thirties it shows as these liberal summer camp trips of demonstrations, of the Occupy movement, in ones thirties and forties supplanting kudzu-like the the whole concept-space and posting-dockets of American and Israeli big establishment such as mega corps, bureaucracies, the academic establishments and every union. All become one grand summer camp of an existence.
Not like the kibbutz, although the kibbutz influenced, not like the kibbutz — like an American Jewish Summer Camp all that in Israel, in America, in Canada, and by proxy and synch into Britain and Australia, all establishment has become.
True, America transformed from rural to metropolitan in the period from 1905 to 1947, like-wise did Israel from experiment to nation, but an equally great transformation began in the mid-30s through the mid-1970s. The transformation of establishment and the culture zeitgeist into the the persona of a very liberal Jewish Summer Camp. A place with no worries about sustenance and survival, a lot of group social structure, highly ageist cohorts, and highly conformist group-think ways of behaving. Perma-fourteen-year-old-ism. Every year is the Bar Mitzvah year at a sleep-away camp.
Camp is wonderful, everyone loves it.
But it’s not real life. It’s not Adult life. There’s no marriages at camp. There’s no worry about the next meal. The infirmary is a a few days and out, really sick campers get helicoptered away — once out of sight and out of rotor noise, the camper who had the leave is forgotten.
Camp is full of silliness, a lot of it structured and why not? It’s an unreal life.
Ayers and Dohrn’s “revolutionary” actions — even their lifestyle, their careers today — and the life-trajectory of all in their circle, and extended circles, including the black silly Hawaiian Communist Frank Davis — summar camp, perma-teenager lifestyles. The bombings — a summer camp prank. The reputed core Weathermen sexual indoctrinations — we’ve seen those things in the British elite schools, but they are not unlike the passing sexual fads that happen in summer camps.
Teenagers rebel against the responsibility adults must perforce take on — responsibility is a scary thing. It’s natural to so rebel.
But by locking into the summer camp lifestyle and ethos, our Western establishments have now become wholly irresponsible, but in the way of perma-teenagers at a summer camp.
Don’t forget mass immigration. I don’t think long-term, Israel can survive. Significant elements of the elite are allied as in this country with mass immigrants from (Africa there, Mexico here) to overturn the working/middle class and establish a “utopian” state filled with masses of poor non-Whites and a few White elites. Women particularly professional women are apt to support this like Charlize Theron, Jillian Michaels, and Sandra Bullock adopting Black baby boys.
This conflict (elites arguing for mass immigration and opposition being “racist” and working/middle class being sick of Africans in their country and rioting to send them home) was covered in the NYT and various Israeli leftist/elitist (but I repeat myself) blogs. Again, the core of that elitism are women who are suckers for aristocracy, princesses and princes, and compassion for non-Whites (but never “icky” poor Whites or working class Whites). The photos on the various Israeli leftist blogs show the narrative, poor oppressed magically good Africans, “ugly” White working class Israelis without the gym toned bodies and careful grooming that the metrosexual class employs.
Since globally, elites rule and ordinary people have no voice or role, I am no more optimistic about Israel’s ability to keep 20 million Africans out of Israel than I am about America’s ability to keep 50 million Mexicans out of the US, particularly with subsidized or free health care courtesy of the White middle class taxpayer who is last in line.
And ultimately the reason for this is a revolt against unsexiness in men by Upper Class White women. Creating a wealthy, safe, and stable society requires a racial mono-state, but also suppressing male competition, dominance displays, cockiness, assertiveness, and the like in favor of cooperation, dutifulness, reliability, all of which most women most of the time globally find repellent, even as it creates wealth and safety.
Society depends on unsexy men, cooperating and working diligently, to create wealth. Women simply won’t defend or value such a society, because they will not tolerate unsexy men. No, not all women or all the time, but enough particularly in the dominant elite who decide EVERYTHING that this is the case. Upper class women have judged the West and found it wanting, in the only thing that matters for them: the sexiness of the men.
Interesting analysis…. I’ve maintained for many years that all the most destructive PC initiatives and policies were cooked up by the class of ruler I call the “Well To Do White Women.” These women are ruthlessly right about everything, just ask them. I once served as the token white male on a charitable board run by them…. I was there to replace the toady male teacher, but, being an engineer and a project manager in the private sector, I didn’t graft well to the body PC politic.
I wondered for years just how many decisions coming from the GWB Whitrhoude were made outright by Laura Bush. That goofy USSC appointment of a female family friend comes to mind. And it would come as a total shock to me if the weird and outrageous PC initiatives flowing down to corporate employees were anything more than bedroom and kitchen shakedowns of male CEOs that would make Jesse and Al with their protesters out in the lobby look like a couple of roadside bumvertisers.
The tide is turning on African immigration. Even left-liberal types who were gung-ho for integrating them into Israel change their mind when the related effects hit their neighborhood.
However, I do share your concern. In Israel, as in the US, the elites are addicted to PC nonsense about equality for all. At least in the US, most minorities are not looking directly to annihilate the majority. In Israel, many of them would in fact delight in doing just that.
Right, but they will support the policies of deconstruction, multiculturalism, diversity promotion, et al none the less, making them just as dangerous to the European Christian in the end.
I don’t think Israelis can be described as Whites, unless you refer solely to skin color. At least half the Israeli population is made of refugees and their children from the Middle East. Many Middle Eastern Jews have a light complexion, but they’re not white Europeans. European Jews are racially mixed with very substantial Middle Eastern component. Most have light complexion, but some are dark. All in all a majority of Israeli Jews have light complexion, but there are a lot of dark Jews too. Genetically the Israeli population on average is far more Middle Eastern than European. The scenes you describe re the illegal immigrants took place in poor neighborhoods in south Tel Aviv where the majority of the population is of Middle Eastern origin without any recent stop in Europe, so I wouldn’t describe them exactly as “White working class” though they are the Israeli equivalent of poor white working class in the West. Their neighborhoods are flooded with illegal immigrants and the crime rate has risen. In addition these are mostly Arabic speaking Muslims. Our enemies who want to destry us are Muslim, mostly Arabic speaking. Allowing Muslim mass immigration into Israel is insanity. And many Middle Eastern Jews still remeber they were expelled from Arab countries and know their ancestors had an often bad experience under Muslim rule going back more than a millenium.
The children need to be reminded that Israel has been violently invaded, destroyed and enslaved not once, but MANY, many times before, and that the nature of her enemies has not changed one bit in the last 1,400 years.
In fact, when Muhammad wrote his hate-the-Jews book of jealousy, the Qur’an, Israel did not exist at the time, so they can’t believably pretend to play the libtarded self-loathing victimology game now either.
Something like the Arab Spring happens every time feel-good liberal victimologists get in charge: “Gee we’ll just send them a pile of money and tell them how sorry we are for their tough life”… which leads to money gone and a lot of hate-America and hate-Israel protests … good plan. Repeat endlessly.
“Multi-Culturalism” IS “Racism!”
Because, even with all their oil money, the moslem countries are at the exact bottom of all the world developmental indexes – but why?
Well, if it ISN’T the software (“cultural” indoctrination, which libs pretend has the exact same – negligible – effect on everyone everywhere) then it must be the hardware (‘race,’ or breed of human) – they can’t have it both ways!
And, even if it’s “because white people have always exploited them!” – that simply means that we COULD only exploit them – because we’re still so much smarter than they are – right?!
When liberals assert that “poverty causes crime!” they’re really only confessing that:
“If I didn’t have something I wanted or needed, I’d be first in line to steal it from someone else, too! Whee!”
The childish Liberals want an EMOCRACY – because, like their moslem brethren, these crybaby extortionists assert that, if only everyone else will Submit to giving them all their stuff, they will finally be happy and at “Peace!”
Obviously, the real reason Arabs have nothing, is because they have long-since chosen to blame everyone else, in stead of simply working for it themselves. Islam only encourages them to Submit to their own mediocrity BY blaming their victims: “It’s all your fault that I’ve failed yet again!” Like islam, liberalism is only criminal negligence writ large as an accepted ideology. And, like all idolatry, it only affords them the evasive right to remain wrong.
Jonathan Spyer should stick to his area of expertise! The economy in Israel may be doing well but these fruits are not being shared. Many Israelis earn
relatively low salaries with little job security and few benefits and yet pay
high rent and prices for food that are higher than those in Europe ane even the
U.S. Middle class families are having to pay more and more out of their pockets for education (public education here is poor quality) and health care
(the health system is being privatized) and feel the squeeze. I can’t speak for all the protesters, but I was sceptical about the Arab “Spring” from the beginning. So were many commentators in the Israeli press. To deal with the many challenges ahead, we need a society that is more egalitarian, less corrupt
politics and a well-educated, healthy population.
If the protestors are so off base as the author claims, why do polls consistently demonstrate that a majority of Israelis support their goals: 69% in June 2012, 75% in April 2012, 87% in August 2011. Instead of lashing out at who is to blame for the protests or what issue we believe is of greater importance, perhaps we should listen to their concerns and why a strong majority of Israelis identify with their message.
the explosions on the mssiile base that killed a high-ranking general were the work of the Iranian opposition.) .. eh, still trying to parse Ledeen’s concept of creative destruction, but, um, the MEK anyone? through the strange twists of time and fate, they are the very org Washington once paid the Shah to destroy (like all Marxists, everywhere, including the rural Indonesian ones that Obama’s mum identified during her time as an anthropologist ). Ledeen, i’m sure, has learned the lessons of history / one of the grimmer ones being Robespierre’s execution as the capstone of the murderous campaign he initiated.