The Radical Bloc
Jaffa, 2023
The Bloc Against the Occupation, a coalition that marched every Saturday evening within Israel’s democracy protests.
In January 2023, Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ordered police to remove Palestinian flags from public spaces.
A few days later, the government’s proposed judicial overhaul triggered a wave of democracy protests. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered every Saturday for almost a year. The Israeli flag became the symbol of the movement: a sign of dedication to the nation, and a claim that those protesting, not the government, were the ones fighting for its future.
Within those protests, a separate coalition marched every Saturday evening: Ha’gush Neged Ha’kibush, the Bloc Against the Occupation, activists standing for an end to the occupation and a democracy for all people in the region. They carried Palestinian flags, and marched under signs made by movements and organizations such as Standing Together, Combatants for Peace, Women Wage Peace, and Looking the Occupation in the Eye.
זכויות אדם זה לכולם
Human Rights for All - Combatants for Peace
Protesters carried Palestinian flags under signs that read human rights are for all and no democracy with occupation.
אין חינוך בלי דמוקרטיה
No education wthout democracy
ישראלים לא משרתים ביהודה / יהודאים לא מחוקקים בישראל
Israeli's don't serve in Judea / Judean's don't legislate in Israel
שוויון · مساواة
Equality” in Hebrew and Arabic, on a fallen sign among the flowers.
הכיבוש משחית
The occupation corrupts.
These photographs are from the anti–judicial-overhaul protests, specifically, during a week of mass protests across the country.
Since October 7th, 2023, and the violence that continues, Israeli police have violently cracked down on anti-war protests. Public displays of Palestinian identity, mourning, and solidarity have been criminalized in ways they were not before. The openness of that Saturday morning in Jaffa has narrowed considerably.