The term "political protest" has become one of the scariest phrases out there these days. Why? When elected officials fail their voters, the public is well within its rights to protest against them. It's all part and parcel of the political game and it makes perfect sense.
Last week's protests were political with a capital "P." They were proud political demonstrations that didn't try to hide behind watered-down slogans and false messages of unity. The demonstrators set out to impact the public agenda and bring about social, economic, and – for some – a political change as well.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
So why is the Right to scared? It seems that right-wing and Netanyahu supporters can protest to their hearts' content; they can call out against the judiciary, the Left, Arabs and more; they can accuse, charge and incite and no one so much as bats an eye. But if anyone dares to protest against the prime minister and demand he be held accountable for his actions and leadership failures, they are labeled "political."
There have been past protests in Israel faded into thin air because their leaders were wary of getting their hands dirty and preferred to create a stately, almost sterile atmosphere in the name of "keeping it clear." In the early 2000s, the students' protest against university tuition led nowhere because its leaders did not want to direct their anger at those crafting economic policy. Demonstraters participating in the 2011 social justice protests demanded social justice, but never took that demand to elected officials' doorstep so the changes that followed were never leveraged in full.
Everything is political: health, education, equal rights, abortion, conversion, public transportation on Shabbat – these are all political issues. Journalist Hannah Kim describes it best when she said, "There is nothing more political than the price of bread." It is therefore reasonable to believe that the business owners who participated in last Saturday's mass rally in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv were there because of their political opinions as well as the losses they incurred over the coronavirus restrictions.
People who only a few months ago were providing for their families have lost everything. Businesses are going under. People are afraid and they see no way out and no future. People are crying out for the state to help them – the same state to which they have contributed and in which they pay taxes.
But the state has abandoned them at the moment of truth. Confounded, they look to the prime minister – the one who is supposed to take care of them – but see only a man who sidelines the debate about their interests to advance his own.
These people, the protesters, understand that quiet protests will never effect change. Only rage does. Politicians will do nothing unless they feel they earth quake strongly enough to make their chairs wobble and the door close on their careers.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
