Yet this impressive mobilization poses a strategic dilemma for anti-occupation and socialist movements. On one hand, if enacted, the judicial overhaul would break the High Court’s independence and transform into a mere tool of an increasingly racist and anti-democratic Knesset. By extension, the neo-liberal pro-settlement governing coalition would gain increased power to deepen the occupation and suppress Palestinian rights within the Green Line (the state’s borders before the 1967 Six-Day War). On the other hand, the mainstream anti-government protest’s makeup and rhetoric fail to adequately respond to these threats.

First, these demonstrations frame themselves as defending “democracy,” without recognizing that for Palestinian citizens of Israel, Israel has never really been democratic. Left-wing activists’ calls to incorporate anti-occupation messaging are typically rejected as “divisive” or “distracting.” Second, the mainstream demonstrations generally support the judicial status quo. While the High Court has occasionally helped individual Palestinians fight for their rights, overall they’ve provided legal cover for fifty-five years of occupation and settlement expansion. [1] Accordingly, this movement’s uncritical defense of the High Court is simply unpalatable for anti-occupation movements. Finally, as a result of these gaping ideological and strategic divisions, the protest movement remains dominated by a single demographic: high and middle-income Jewish-Israelis from the geographic center, who mostly vote for Centrist parties. Palestinian citizens of Israel and low-income Israelis from the geographic periphery are mostly absent from these protests.

In response to the mainstream protest movement’s blatant disregard of the occupation, it’s been left to anti-occupation and socialist groups, such as Standing Together, to press this issue to the forefront. Shortly after the new government’s formation, we organized the first anti-government protest in Tel Aviv, on January 7^th, attended by up to 30,000 protesters. We included a diverse speaker line-up including an ultra-orthodox feminist activist, representatives from the LGBTQ+ community, anti-occupation activists, and the most senior Palestinian member of Knesset, Ayman Odeh. By including anti-occupation and Palestinian voices, we underscored that the fight against the new government must be a fight for democracy for all. A few days after our Tel Aviv demonstration, we organized a parallel protest in Rahat, the largest Palestinian city in Israel, and the center of the Bedouin-Palestinian community of the Naqab/Negev. We held this march to emphasize that the anti-government movement can’t remain in stereotypically liberal Tel Aviv, but must also reach the communities that will most tangibly be hurt by it.

Since our initial demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Rahat, many activists, within and outside of Standing Together, have continued to push anti-occupation messaging into the protests. At the weekly Saturday night marches in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, we routinely see a noisy “anti-occupation bloc,” which is the result of cooperation of several organizations, reminding the other demonstrators that protecting the High Court’s independence won’t ensure a democratic future – only ending the occupation will.

In the past few weeks, a few developments have elevated the occupation’s visibility within the broader protests. First, on February 26^th, Israeli settlers, with the support of the army, committed a pogrom in the West Bank Palestinian town of Huwara. In response, protesters from the mainstream blocs have begun shouting at police “Where were you at Huwara?” Their call connects their demonstrations with the government’s tacit (and increasingly explicit) support of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Second, leading activists from Palestinian society within Israel, including many Standing Together members, recently released a video calling on their community to join the anti-government protests. [2] Their call recognizes that Palestinian citizens of Israel will be the first to suffer from the proposed judicial overhaul and thus necessitates their involvement in the protest movement. However, they also insist that even as they join the larger protests, Palestinians must never give up on their own interests as well.

In all likelihood, it appears that the anti-government protests will continue for many weeks to come. Moving forward, it’s essential that the occupation and ongoing systematic discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel be included in this fight. It’s not enough to defend the High Court. We must fight for democracy for all.

Rula Daood is the National Co-Director of “Standing Together” — a grassroots political movement organizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in the struggle for peace, equality, and social and environmental justice.

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