FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY: LESSONS FROM A PROTEST MOVEMENT (2024)
By Maya Gayer
In the past decade democracy has seen a global deterioration process, to the extent it was in about 35 years ago. In 2024 more than half of humanity will have a chance to vote in national elections. So what can citizens do to protect their democracies? A good case study is that of the Israeli Democracy Protest Movement - the largest protest movement in Israeli history and one of the most persistent and successful in recent global history. Building on the movement’s oral history project, the website offers lessons learned in fighting for democracy for other societies facing this threat.The past year has been unprecedentedly dramatic and tumultuous for Israeli citizens. Ever since the newly elected far right-wing government declared its plan for a judicial overhaul in January 2023, there have been protests throughout the country—creating the largest protest movement in Israel’s history and one of the most persistent in recent global history—culminating after 9 months with the October 7th attack. With global democratic deterioration, and the upcoming contentious elections in the US, two leading Israeli organizers, Ronit Levine-Schnur and Shany Granot-Lubaton, will recount the challenges, successes, and failures of the democratic protest movement, reflect on the impact of October 7th events on the movement, and offer insights on fighting for democracy.
