I Can’t Keep Silent in Light of How My Country Has Changed Her Face

Photographed between July of 2020 and March of 2021, this project documents Israel's protest wave and its people's fight over the country's democratic future.

For nine months in a row, Israel experienced one of the most extended mass protest waves it has ever known. Every week between June of 2020 and March of 2021, thousands of people demonstrated against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an ongoing trial with indictments of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust. Amid the Covid-19 crisis, which brought Israel to a new socioeconomic low, people demonstrated in almost every city, road intersection, and overpass across the country. However, the unquestionable heart of the protest was Balfour Street in Jerusalem, where the main demonstration took place every Saturday night outside Netanyahu’s official residence. Young and old, from all sides of the political spectrum, shared a clear demand - his immediate resignation.

But the true nature of this protest is far more complex and less tangible. Netanyahu’s legal status and the erosion of the democratic values of government institutions have brought many issues to the surface: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the growing social gaps, and gross injustice. All of these are deeply rooted in the country’s history and, for the protesters, they simply can not be ignored any longer, though facing police brutality and physical and verbal violence by Netanyahu's supporters. For many, driven by unbearable despair and great hope, this fight was over the country’s democratic future.

On June 6, Ori Nachman arrived at Balfour Street. Armed with a folding chair and years of experience protesting against corruption, she settled just outside the official residence of Benjamin Netanyahu. On June 11, Amir Haskel, a former brigadier general, and a Holocaust researcher joined Nachman in Jerusalem. Together they protested against the possibility of a Prime Minister to serve under indictments, and as the days went by, more and more people joined them, forming the Balfour Protest Camp. Sleeping on the sidewalk or in tents, the protesters who lived there were mostly in their 60’s. They ate food made and delivered by other supporters and took shifts so people could go home to shower and sleep - as long as the camp remained occupied.

In mid-July, a group of dozens of young Israelis created the Independence Park Protest Camp, which is located a three minutes walk from Netanyahu’s residence. Under the trees and the blazing sun, they played music, had group discussions about politics and philosophy, and together they dreamed about a better future. The young generation was not only protesting against Netanyahu but over climate change, women’s rights, equality, and other issues that might sound too idealistic for the Israeli political discourse. But the summer’s euphoria dissipated as many students returned to their studies in October and only a few purposeful protesters remained.

The residents of the two protest camps persisted through the hot summer and rainy winter. They overcame harsh living conditions on the street, physical and verbal violence of passers-by, thefts, vandalism, evacuations by the municipality, and even one arson attempt of the camp on Balfour Street. But as the protest kept rising, so did the importance of the camps. For many protesters who came to the weekly demonstration in Paris Square, they were a symbol of perseverance and determination. They were a lighthouse guiding the way, evidence proving they are not alone in this fight.

These “Anarchists”, “Disease spreaders”, “Aliens”, as Netanyahu and his family called them, are people breaking out of silence. After months of unrest, and as Israel faced the fourth election in two years, Balfour Street was not only a pilgrimage center for the people fighting against corruption. It became a symbol of the fight over the very essence of Israel.