Israel is well known as a world leader of technological, agricultural and medical innovations. This summer, one more innovation with global implications was added to the list of Israeli creations- social protest tent camps. About six months after the tent protests on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and the streets of other Israeli towns, the Occupy movement began to organize similar protest camps in major cities in the West. On my last trip to North America I visited three of these protest camps.
In Montreal I asked my friend David Lyons to introduce me to the renowned Montreal bagels. The profile of Montreal bagels was raised internationally when a Canadian astronaut included them on his list of must-have items to take into space. The tourist brochure in my Montreal hotel room credits the bagel to our people, noting that they were brought to the country by eastern European Jews who immigrated to Canada. I purchased a half dozen sweet bagels hot out of the oven, and duly added myself to the list of their fans. At David's suggestion, we drove from the bakery to our dinner spot via the Occupy Montreal protest camp, where we saw a few dozen colorful tents pitched along a narrow boulevard. David and I, comfortably seated in the warmth of David's car, decided that the freezing Canadian winter presents a significant challenge to the Montreal protesters' commitment to social revolution.
The next day, I arrived in Cambridge and checked into my hotel in Harvard Square, next to Harvard University, since I planned to go to Shabbat services and take my Shabbat meals at the local Hillel chapter. Not many students remained on campus that weekend. Most of them had gone to the Yale vs. Harvard football game held at Yale.
Just before the entrance of Shabbat, I left the hotel and went for a walk along the paths of the university. The aristocratic red-brick buildings and proud white-framed windows of Harvard cover most of Cambridge Square. Against the background of the blue sky and the red leaves that characterize New England in autumn, Harvard University, with its permanent endowment fund of some $18 billion, radiates the power and self-confidence befitting a member of the top tier of the academic world.
I walked to Harvard Yard, intending to enter it via the gate near the Gato Rojo Café. When I was a student I used to spend considerable amount of time in that café, which is run by students and boasts the lowest coffee prices on campus. At the entrance to the Yard, stood a tall, intimidating police officer. "Only students with a valid student ID can enter the Yard," he growled at me. I was taken aback. Harvard Yard is one of the local tourist attractions, and access to the Yard had never been restricted to just students. On the contrary, one could always see dozens of tourists armed with cameras wandering around the Yard.
"What happened?" I asked, my Israeli imagination running wild with thoughts of terrorism, suicide bombings, and the like. The police officer ignored my question but I heard someone else mutter, "Protest camp." Understanding began to dawn, and my determination to go into the Yard grew.
I approached the police officer again and said, as politely as I could, "I don't have student ID but I am an alumnus of Harvard. I came from half way around the world to see the university where I studied 15 years ago." This piqued the curiosity of the guardian of law and order.
"Really? Where are you from?" he asked. Looking at him with his dark sunglasses, I thought he seemed to be ex-military.
"From Israel," I replied.
"You don't have an Israeli accent," declared the police officer with surprise.
"I lived in Boston for several years, so I have a 'Boston-Israeli' accent."
"Did you serve in the Israeli army?"
"Of course!" I answered proudly. "In fact, I still serve, as a captain in the reserves."
My military service and rank worked its magic on the police officer. "OK, I'll give you a break, officer to officer. You can go into the Yard."
I thanked him and went straight in before he could change his mind. I headed for the protest tents, which were pitched atop a manicured lawn, just a few yards from the famous statue of John Harvard. Harvard bequeathed his extensive library and about half of his monetary estate to the academic institution then known as the New College, in appreciation for which America's oldest and most prestigious university has, since 1639, been named for him.
The Occupy Harvard camp consisted of about 20 tents, next to which was a small table with explanatory brochures. I asked the bearded young man at the table to tell me the purpose of the protest. His name was Timothy McGraff and he was a doctoral student in American History.
"Harvard must use its international influence to make the world a fairer place," Timothy said, and told me to visit the Occupy Harvard movement's website www.occupyharvard.net for more information. "It's not good enough that Harvard leads the business, public and academic worlds. We must use our influence in the world to make it a better place." The future Ph.D. and present-day revolutionary agreed with me that the name "Occupy" is very threatening and intimidating. "You're right," he said, "The name 'We are the 99%' sounds much better." Despite the paucity of tents and the university administration's policing efforts, I left the camp feeling that something significant might be happening there.
When Shabbat exited, I joined my friends Larry and Elaine Smith for dinner. After supper Larry suggested that we go to see the Occupy Boston camp. We walked to the camp, which consisted of over 100 tents organized in rows that reminded me of the tent camp on Rothschild Boulevard. On the corner of the boulevard were a central kitchen, a library, and an information tent. Banners were raised 'protesting against' various evils and 'protesting for' various remedies. Bundled up in warm clothing, some of the activists were explaining their doctrine to passers-by. Boston in November is cold. It is not easy to be a revolutionary in a pup tent when the temperature drops below freezing, and winter will be a real test of the movement. We listened to one of the activists for a few minutes, then the fierce cold won out over our curiosity and we walked home briskly.
Over the next few days I spoke with some of my American friends about the developing phenomenon of the Occupy movement. I learned that some of the protests have already put Israel and Jews in our traditional starring roles as the "bad guys" and those protests include slogans like, "Get rid of the Jewish bankers" or "Free occupied Palestine."
The Occupy movement is growing on fertile ground for protest. The current global economic crisis is liable to dramatically increase the numbers of educated people within the ranks of the unemployed, and to further widen the large gaps between those who benefit from capitalism and those who are its victims. If the protests become radicalized and start to lead to violence and extremism, then the likely results will be destructive to society as a whole - including to the weaker segments of the population that the movement was intended to help.
I will not be surprised if we soon hear convoluted conspiracy theories according to which Israel and the Jews are using their secret weapon, developed by Daphni Leef and her colleagues and tested during the social protest movement in Israel, to disrupt the entire global economy via the Occupy movement. Unfortunately, when troubles and catastrophes plague the world, there are always those who blame everything on the Jews.
But what if the protest movement leads to good things? If that happens, will the world remember that the social protest movement was born in Israel, on Rothschild Boulevard, in the summer of 2011?
Sagi Melamed lives with his family in the community of Hoshaya in the Galilee. He serves as Vice President of External Affairs at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, and as Chief Instructor (4th Dan) of the Hoshaya Karate Club. Sagi received his Masters degree from Harvard University in Middle Eastern Studies with a specialty in Conflict Resolution. He can be contacted at: melamed.sagi@gmail.com
most of Cambridge Square. Against the background of the blue sky and the red leaves that characterize New England in autumn, Harvard University, with its permanent endowment fund of some $18 billion, radiates the power and self-confidence befitting a member of the top tier of the academic world.
