Red alert on democracy: photographing protests and civil resistance in Israel before and after October 7
Documenting the most sustained wave of civic protest in Israel’s history – opposition to the Netanyahu government, the Israel-Gaza war and the ongoing fight for the nation’s democratic future.
For nine months before the October 7 terrorist attack, Israelis took to the streets in their masses, with between 60,000 to 400,000 protesting weekly against the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul. Since October 7, 2023, these regular protests have only grown in urgency, encompassing calls for a hostage deal and an end to the Israel-Gaza war.
This exhibition displays selected photographs from a body of work by the Photographers’ and Drone Squadron (HaSayeret), a collective of volunteer photographers committed to documenting Israel’s ongoing pro-democracy protests. These powerful images document the breadth of Israeli civic resistance and reflect the passion and urgency of a grassroots struggle to uphold the principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence—human dignity, equality, and the rule of law.
To date, hundreds of photographers from across the country have contributed to this effort, sharing their work widely through traditional and social media. Together, these images chronicle – and support – an unprecedented civil protest movement that continues to grow in size, diversity, and resolve, embodying a collective fight for justice, democratic integrity, and hope.
This exhibition features a curated selection of images drawing from HaSayeret’s ongoing international photography series ‘HaTikva (The Hope): The Struggle for Israel’s Future – Israel’s Civic Pro-Democracy Movement, Pre- and Post-October 7th.’ A volunteer-driven activist initiative, the HaTikva series has so far led to a dozen unique exhibitions, presented across four continents.
Photo credit: Ori Yaffe, 5 August 2024, Jerusalem
More about this exhibition
To mark the exhibition’s launch and closure, two public events exploring the intersection of visual storytelling, citizen activism, and democratic resistance have been organised.
HaSayeret has been capturing citizen protests across Israel since its inception, already in 2020. Its activist community of volunteer photographers has grown significantly since January 2023’s protests against the government’s judicial overhaul. The HaTikva exhibit series is curated by Dr Tanya Zion-Waldoks and Hani Baruchin, and produced in collaboration with Yair Lahav, Adv. Hagar Lahav, and members of HaSayeret. For more information, contact: hatikva.civic@gmail.com
About the curators
Red alert on democracy is curated by Mika Lanir Zafir (independent artist), Shani Orgad (Department of Media and Communications), Ronny Razin (Department of Economics), Stephanie Levy (Department of International Development) and Jessica Winterstein (LSE Communications Division).
Media enquiries: please contact Jess Winterstein at j.winterstein@lse.ac.uk
For any other queries, please contact LSE Arts at arts@lse.ac.uk
Twitter hashtag for this event: #LSEArts
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