May 1968 and August 2011

Israeli protesters must remember that Israel is not part of the so-called Arab Spring: it is not fighting for democracy and human rights.

By MICHAEL BAR-ZOHAR
300,000 protestors call for social justice (photo credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)
300,000 protestors call for social justice
(photo credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters)
In May 1968 I was doing research in my alma mater, the University of Paris, when the famous student revolution exploded on the Left Bank. It was so beautiful at the beginning: we protested for human rights, for a reform of the country's universities and educational system, against discrimination and outdated rules and restrictions.
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We fought the hated police and special police forces (CRS) that attacked us with batons, fists and tear gas. We erected barricades all over the country. The Trade Unions joined us, demanding better pay. Hundreds of thousands marched on the streets of the big cities. Writers and poets and journalists - mostly left wing - sang odes to this revolution of the pure hearts. We occupied the Sorbonne, the Theatre de France (and covered their walls with graffiti), while workers occupied their factories and plants, ousting the owners and trying to run them themselves.
France went on a general strike - no trains, no buses, no gasoline, and almost no electricity. The government wavered, reacting with panic, while then-president Charles de Gaulle seemed to flee the scene…
But then things changed, Anarchists and communists joined our movement, and political parties jumped in the fray. The slogans became political, the revolution demanded of De Gaulle to resign and give the power to the people, with one politician named Francois Mitterrand announcing that “there is no more state” and that he was ready to assume power. Another more respected politician, Pierre Mendes France, declared that he was ready to form a left-wing government with the communists.
Rumors were circulating that president de Gaulle had escaped from the Elysee Palace taking with him his private papers and the family jewels. France was totally paralyzed, and seemed to be on the verge of civil war.
But then the Trade Unions negotiated with the government and owners and achieved significant salary raises; now they wanted to keep their winnings. We also learned that de Gaulle had secretly flown to Germany where the bulk of the French Army was concentrated, whose generals assured him of their loyalty.
So the president came back, dissolved the Parliament and announced new elections in three weeks time; the army opened the service stations and the Frenchmen filled their tanks and escaped for the weekend of Pentecost. A mammoth protest – between 800,000 and a million people – marched on the Champs Elysees in support of de Gaulle. The tide had turned, the French had had enough of slogans and protests and wanted law and order.
On June 23 the elections took place, and de Gaulle’s party won its biggest victory in history, winning 353 out of the 486 seats in Parliament.
Business was back to normal.
And here in the Land of the Bible? I know, we should never make comparisons. I know the situation here is totally different. I know that our protesters are pure of heart…
But I also know that all sorts of political forces are trying to hitch a ride on Israel's national movement. I know that some of the leaders of this “revolution” are drunk with victory, and have begun asking for the impossible. I know that the slogan “Bibi go home” has become a goal for some of the protesters, and protesting for protest’s sake is becoming the name of the game. And I know that the protests may become more and more violent, as their leaders taste the intoxicating feeling of power and try to dictate dramatic - and often contradictory - reforms.
So far the protests were peaceful and moderate; so far many of them were healthy and even needed, and many of the demands were necessary. Since the days of David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir the poor nation of Israel has become a prosperous and rich country; but the gaps between the filthy rich and the middle and lower classes have grown larger.
This must be changed. The protest leaders - backed with the support of thousands and fueled by society's deep malaise - should now negotiate with the nation leaders and reach agreements about reforms in our society. Some of their demands will be satisfied, some not. But there must still be a red line. We are not part of the so-called Arab Spring, we are not fighting for democracy and human rights, we are not shot at in the streets, and we do not want to see our leaders behind bars. We don’t want to instigate a bona fide revolution and the question of whether Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should go home or not can only be decided by the people in democratic elections, and not in a tent on Rothschild Boulevard.
We should be careful not to exploit the ugly challenges that face Israel from the region as a pretext to refuse reforms – but neither should we forget them. And if these young people really want to change Israel’s reality, it must be either through negotiating with the elected institutions or by forming a political force that would compete at the next national elections.The young protesters have shown us many of the ills of today’s Israel, and it’s our duty, together, to heal our society.
There is no other way.
The writer is a former Labor Party MK and the official biographer of David Ben-Gurion and Shimon Peres.