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Showing posts with the label Protesters

What's Happening in Israel? The Bigger Picture - Part 1

As a parliamentary democracy, the State of Israel is no stranger to protests and rowdy sessions in its parliament, the Knesset. Yet what occurred in March 2023 set a new record of discord and civil disIDFobedience. The Israeli trade union, the Histadrut, called for a national strike and the country came to a near standstill. Banks closed, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchanged stopped trading, and university presidents, rectors, and administrators joined in the protests, along with hospitals, doctors, and nurses. What’s more ominous is that reservists in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) refused to show up for mandatory annual reserve duty - politicising the vaunted defender of the nation. Even McDonalds closed its two hundred kosher and non-kosher restaurants. One thing that remained open was the trains but they were busy transporting protesters to the capital. What was the cause of this civic upheaval? Protesters were decrying the rise of religious and civic fascism and warning that Israeli...