Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Protest and the Absence of Legalistic Discourse: In the Quest for New Language of Dissent

  • Published:
International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique Aims and scope Submit manuscript

“For last year words belong to last year’s language

and next year’s words await another voice”

(T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding, Four Quartets)

“If I would have mentioned laws…

The crowds would not have come.”

Daphni Leef [prominent protest leader], March 22, 2012

Abstract

Legalistic discourse, lawyers and lawyering had minor representation during the 2011 summer protest events in Israel. In this paper we explore and analyze this phenomena by employing content analysis on various primary and secondary sources, among them structured personal interviews with leaders and major activists involved in the protest, flyers, video recordings made by demonstrators and songs written by them. Our findings show that participants cumulatively produced a pyramid-like structure of social power that is anchored in the enterprise of organizing the protest. Our findings explicate how the non-legalistic and even anti-legalistic discourse of the protest was formed, shaped and generated within the power relations of the protest, and how a pyramid of power produced a new poetics of protest that rejected the traditional poetics of state law. The power relations that generated the discourse regarding state law were embedded in socioeconomic stratification along the divide of center and periphery in Israel.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We make frequent use of the term “representation”, which has a wide range of connotations that are beyond the scope of this paper. Here we use representation in its characterization as a poetics construct. Its core essence is the meaning it creates. The meaning can be assigned to the representation both by its creators and by its audiences through their interpretation.

  2. Interviews with Alon Lee, April 23, 2012, and Raja Zaatra, June 17, 2012.

  3. Interview with Itzik Shmuli, March 1, 2012.

  4. Daphni Leef, a 27-years-old editor and video artist, was considered by many as the leader as well as the face of the protest. See, for example, an analysis of Internet discourse during summer 2011, which points out that Leef was perceived by the Israeli public as the unrivaled leader of the protest [18].

  5. Interview with Yosi Yona, February 22, 2012; interview with Regev Contes, February 26, 2012; interview with Daphni Leef, March 22, 2012; interview with Barak Cohen, May 13, 2012; interview with Michal Greenberg, May 21, 2012.

  6. Interview with Stav Shafir, April 23, 2012; interview with Alon Lee, April 23, 2012; interview Raja Zaatra, June 17, 2012.

  7. Interview with Daphni Leef, March 22, 2012; interview with Regev Contes, February 26, 2012.

  8. Interview with Daphni Leef, March 22, 2012; interview with Regev Contes, February 26, 2012; interview with Michal Greenberg, May 21, 2012; interview with Yigal Rambam, June 18, 2012.

  9. It should be noted that the unique nature of the protest also evoked public criticism from those who viewed the protest as merely a summer light-headed happening [12].

  10. Erez Biton was born in 1942 in Algeria. He lost his sight and his left hand when he was 10 years old. He is perceived as one of the spiritual leaders of the struggle of Mizrachi Jews; see: http://www.ithl.org.il/page_13570.

  11. Maya Bejerano was born in Kibbutz Elon in 1949, and now lives in Tel Aviv; see: http://www.ithl.org.il/page_13512.

  12. Aleph is the first letter of the Israeli Alphabet, and Beth is the second letter. The Hebrew word “tent” begins with an Aleph, and the word “home”—with a Beth.

  13. The use of protest camps was described by the protest leaders as being inspired by the Hooverville tent cities in Central Park, New York City and other locations in the United States, in which Americans lived during the Great Depression.http://www.culanth.org/?q=node/655.

  14. However, it should be noted that the slogans of the protest were criticized by some for being merely catchy puns, lacking profound or meaningful insights to the Israeli society’s disappointments. Shir Nosatzki commented in her interview that in her eyes “Occupy Wall Street” is a slogan that addresses much more meaningfully the subconscious of American society. Interview with Shir Nosatzki, April 15, 2012.

  15. Interview with Regev Contes, February 26, 2012.

  16. Interview with Shir Nosatzki, April 15, 2012.

  17. Interview with Daphnie Leef, March 22, 2012.

  18. The Democratic Mizrachi Rainbow is a social movement aimed at bringing a change into Israeli society as a whole and to its institutions. The organization’s members are Jews from Arab and Muslim countries who identify with its values—democracy, human rights, social justice, equality and multiculturalism; see: http://www.ha-keshet.org.il.

  19. Interview with Keren Kastenband, May 20, 2012.

  20. Interview with Michal Grinberg, May 21, 2012.

  21. Interview with Ayala Sabag, May 21, 2012.

  22. Interview with Lony Natanzon, May 20, 2012.

  23. Interview with Regev Contes, February 26, 2012.

  24. Interview with Yossi Yonah, February 22, 2012.

  25. Interview with Barak Cohen, May 13, 2012. Barak Cohen is a lawyer and Tel Aviv’s social protest activist.

  26. In this spirit, Cohen elaborated on his view of a constitutional revolution in an interview by Globes magazine [27].

  27. Interview with Talia Sasson, March 8, 2012.

  28. Pomerantz mentioned, as an example of such translation, the last verdict given by Chief Justice (Ret.) Beinisch: HCJ 10662/04 Salah Hassan v. The institute for Social Security [2012] (Isr.), which in her view manifests the transforming of the protest’s spirit into substantial judgment [21].

  29. Interview with Carmel Pomerantz, April 15, 2012.

  30. Interview with Gil Gan-Mor, March 14, 2012.

  31. Interview with Ela Alon, February 22, 2012.

  32. Interview with Yael Barda, April 16, 2012.

  33. Two examples: Wasim Abu-Shakra, an Israeli Arab-Palestinian who was an activist in Haifa's protest, while stressing the ineffectiveness of law because of the courts’ unwillingness to intervene in the issues with which the protest as concerned and because of law’s inherent slowness, told us that during the protest he made up his mind to study law so that he could use the knowledge that such an education offers. Renen Yeserzki, a Be’er Sheva activist, expressed doubts in regard to the law’s effectiveness alongside satisfaction with certain legal decisions and hoped for future legal involvement.

  34. Interview with Alon-Lee Green, April 23, 2012.

  35. Interview with Yonathan Levi, April 15, 2012.

  36. Interview with Gil Gan-Mor, March 14, 2012.

  37. Interview with Regev Contes, February 26, 2012.

  38. It should be noted that the Israeli Democratic Institute and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel did draft a social rights bill for legislation, but they did so without much cooperation of prominent figures identified with the protest or hardcore activists and leaders; see interview with Talia Sasson, 8 March, 2012.

References

  1. Almog, Shulamit. 2006. Creating representations of justice in the third millennium: Legal poetics in digital times. Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal 32(2): 183–245.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Almog, Shulamit, and Ely Ahronson. 2004. Law as film: Representing justice in the age of moving image. Canadian Journal of Law and Technology 3(1): 7–8.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. Samuel H. Butcher. 1951. Theory of Poetry and Fine Art. New York: Courier Dover Publications.

  4. Bachmann, Steve. 2010. Lawyers, law and social change-update 2010. New York University Review of Law and Social change 34(3): 499–561.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Barak-Erez, Daphne, and Aeyal Gross. 2007. Exploring social rights between theory and practice. Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Barthes, Roland. 1987. Criticism and truth. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Barzilai, Gad, Yaar Yuchtman, and Zeev Segal. 1992. The Israeli supreme court and the Israeli public. Tel Aviv: Papirus.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Barzilai, Gad. 2007. The ambivalent language of lawyers in Israel: Liberal politics, economic liberalism, silence and dissent. In Fighting for political freedom: Comparative studies of the legal complex and political liberalism, ed. Terry C. Halliday, Lucien Karpik, and Malcolm M. Feeley, 247–277. Oxford: Hart.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Lane, Bruner M. 2005. Carnivalesque protest and the humorless state. Text & Performance Quarterly 25(2): 136–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cemper, Shaun Danielle. 2011. The revolution song-book: The poetry of the tent. Daka, Maayan, Etgar, Erev-rav, Gerila (Hebrew): Tel Aviv.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cohen, Anat. 2012. The Leadership of the Protest Needs to be Refreshed: Leef and Shaffir Brands Worn Out. GLOBES, May 29. http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000752138 (accessed May 29, 2012).

  12. Cohen, Dudu. 2011. Indulgence disguised as social protest. MAKO, January 21. http://www.mako.co.il/video-blogs-dudu-cohen/Article-615afa809da4131006.htm (accessed July 21, 2011).

  13. Contes, Regev. 2011. The Apartment’s Youth: The Beautiful People behind the Tents Protest. AKHBAR HAEER, July 21. http://www.mouse.co.il/CM.articles_item,778,209,62194,.aspx (accessed July 21, 2011).

  14. Epp, Charles R. 1998. The rights revolution: Lawyers, activists and Supreme Court in comparative perspective. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Patricia, Ewick, and Silbey S. Susan. 1998. The common place of law Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Feeley, Malcolm, Terrence C. Halliday, and Lucien Karpik. 2007. Fighting for political freedom: Comparative studies of the legal complex and legal liberalism. Oxford: Hart.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Feeley, Malcolm, Terrence C. Halliday, and Lucien Karpik. 2012. Fates of political liberalism in the British post-colony. Hart: The Politics of the Legal Complex. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Fridor, Yoav. 2011. Online discussion analysis: Daphni Leef—the undisputed leader of the protest. GLOBES, August 8. http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000671641 (accessed August 8, 2011).

  19. Gavison, Ruth, Mordechai Kremnitzer, and Yoav Dotan. 2000. Judical activism: For and against: The role of the High court of justice in Israeli society. Jerusalem: Hebrew University Press. (in Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Harmon, William, and C.Hugh Holman. 1992. A handbook to literature, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hassan v. National Insurance Institute of Israel, HCJ 10662/04 (unpublished decision) available in Hebrew at http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files/04/620/106/n44/04106620.n44.pdf.

  22. Horwitz, J.Morton. 1997. The transformation of American Law 1870–1960. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Howard, N.Philip. 2010. The digital origins of dictatorship and democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  24. Kagan, Robert A. 2003. Adversarial legalism: The American way of law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kairys, David (ed.). 1990. The politics of progressive critique of law. New York: Pantheon.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kutner, Moshe. 2011. The Network that Unifies the Tents. The Marker 28/7/2011. http://www.themarker.com/technation/1.1769741.

  27. Maanit, Chen. 2011. If the Revolution would fail it will transform into a Revolution of Gun Bullets. GLOBES, August 3. http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000669768 (Accessed August 3, 2011).

  28. MAKO News. 2011. Daphni Leef Replies to the Critics on her Facebook Page. June 28. http://www.mako.co.il/news-israel/education/Article-2d3fc379fa13831018.htm (Accessed June 28, 2012).

  29. Mautner, Menachem. 2011. Law and the culture of Israel. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. McCann, Michael M. 1994. Rights at work: Pay equity reform and the politics of legal mobilization. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Merry, Sally Engle. 1988. Legal pluralism. Law & Society Review 22(5): 869–896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Park-Fuller, Linda. 2003. Audiencing the audience: Playback theatre, performative writing, and social activism. Text & Performance Quarterly 23(3): 288–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Paz-fuchs, Amir. 2011. Law under protest: Lawyers and the social protest movement of summer 2011. Ma’asei Mishpat 4: 93–108. Hebrew.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Rattner, Arie. 1994. The margins of justice attitudes towards the law and the legal system among Jews and Arabs in Israel. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 6(4): 358–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Sarat, Austin, and Stuart A. Scheingold. 2001. Cause lawyering: Political commitments and professional responsibilities. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  36. Sarat, Austin, and A.Scheingold Stuart (eds.). 2008. Cause lawyers and social movements. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Sarat, Austin, Felstiner L.F. William, and Abel L. Richard. 1980. The emergence and transformation of disputes: Naming, blaming, claiming…. Law and Society Review 15: 3–4.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Schechter, Asher. 2012. Rothschild—A Chronicle of Protest, Published by Kav Adom – HaKibbutz HaMeuhad, (in Hebrew).

  39. Shitrit, Shimon. 1977. Reflections on the protection of the rights of the individual: Form and substance. Israel Law Review 12: 32–67.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Weisman, Lilach. 2011. The Social Protest Reaches Politics: Contacts to Form a Political Part: Survey: Leef and Shmuli – the Most Popular in the General Public. GLOBES, October 14. http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000687553 (Accessed October 4, 2011).

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge three research assistants who helped us in conducting our research: Marva Isham, Tzlil Danieli and Kovi Yosef. The responsibility for this article is on the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

    Shulamit Almog & Gad Barzilai

  2. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Gad Barzilai

Authors
  1. Shulamit Almog
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gad Barzilai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Shulamit Almog or Gad Barzilai.

Additional information

Shulamit Almog and Gad Barzilai have equally contributed to this article.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Almog, S., Barzilai, G. Social Protest and the Absence of Legalistic Discourse: In the Quest for New Language of Dissent. Int J Semiot Law 27, 735–756 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-014-9378-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-014-9378-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation