The J14 resistance mo(ve)ment: The Israeli mix of Tahrir Square and Puerta del Sol

Abstract

The article discusses the spontaneous popular movement J14 that erupted into the Israeli public sphere during the summer of 2011. Inspired by the Egyptian and Spanish movements, J14 was ignited by opposition to housing prices, later expanded into protests against neoliberal economic policies and socioeconomic inequalities. The concept of resistance mo(ve)ment is used to comprehend the peculiar intersection between the movement and moment of mass mobilization. The article explores the mo(ve)ment focusing on the political and economic background and context, and analyzing the role of a new generational class who were suffering the effects of a neoliberal political economy. The B Generation in Israel is the product of a double crisis, global and local. The local crisis involves the disintegration of Israeli society after Rabin’s assassination in 1995, and the repression of socioeconomic agendas by fanning hostility to external ‘enemies’. The global crisis is the outcome of a neoliberal economy that weakens middle and lower classes, especially young people living under precarious conditions. The argument is that socioeconomic protests in Israel take place when the external ‘conflict’ is quiet. The calm summer of 2011 was framed in-between Netanyahu’s US campaign against UN recognition of a Palestinian state in May and the scheduled UN discussions in September.