What's Our Big Idea? Join the Majority

Ideas are among the strongest engines for change in the world. The idea that this planet belongs to all of us, for example, is a powerful one. So is the idea that Israel, my home, should be the home of all its citizens, and that its economy should work for us, writes Alon-Lee Green.

Neither of these ideas are new; neither have yet become reality. In fact, the gaps between rich and poor are getting wider around the world, and the fruits of our labour and of this planet are being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. In Israel, only a small elite benefits from the occupation, from the continued wars and austerity policies; in the meantime, the majority of us are paying the costs. So while ideas of a just and fairer world are far from being reality, nevertheless they are the light that shines the way. I believe it is more important than ever for us to talk about them and focus on how to make them become reality.

It is with this in mind that we – a collective of Jewish and Arab activists, members of the grassroots movement Standing Together – have launched Majority Magazine, which was initially funded through the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme. Majority is a new Hebrew- and Arabic-language magazine, based in Israel, which aims to create a discussion around ideas for positive change in a society divided by segregation, racism, bigotry, and extreme social and economic inequality.

The simple idea of connecting ideas and action is at the heart of Majority Magazine. What does it mean to connect our struggles to change our society to thoughts and ideas? Well, it starts with asking some simple questions:

Why does our society look the way it does today?

Who is benefiting from the fact that the rich continue get richer, but the majority of us find that our dreams are on hold?

What processes should happen so that we can push for change?

What has worked in other struggles, and in other countries that have achieved positive change?

How can we challenge the right-wing, populist politics that control our country, and build a political alternative?

Six months into a pandemic, these are dramatic times around the globe. All around, us questions are being raised that challenge the supposedly “common-sense” political status quo and the allegedly “natural” order of things. Growing awareness of the human cost of inequality and racism have sparked protests all around the world. In Israel, as I write these lines, we are in the midst of a wave of mass protests. Week after week, people are taking to the streets, protesting against our corrupt government and its failure to deal with the economic crisis we are living through. But I believe that protest movements should not only call for the resignation of a government; we must also speak about the alternatives we seek. This is especially true in a time of crisis, when far-Right populism is intent on using social disparities to turn people against each other.

A very important example of the urgent need to talk about ideas and alternatives can be found in recent polls in Israel. Although Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s popularity is shrinking, it is at the expense of Naftali Bennet, the leader of a small far-Right party that is now becoming a strong challenger to the current the government. Bennet is launching daily attacks on the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis, and in some polls, his party is now the second most popular in the country. This is the reason why, now more than ever, we need to talk about ideas and alternatives. This is why we need a platform such as Majority Magazine, so our protest will not only be anti-Netanyahu, but also for equality, peace and social justice – all of which are that values Bennet does not espouse or represent.

The aim of Majority Magazine is to influence those who understand that we need to demand change, and who are willing to take action. The magazine hopes to spur discussion, to challenge us to seek answers and alternatives and to become a thinking collective. The way we propose to do this is not via academic discussion, but by using popular, direct language that will allow us to build a forum that is open and accessible for everyone to read and contribute to.

The first online issue of Majority Magazine includes a close look at capitalism and coronavirus, where we ask who is responsible for the crisis in our country in which 25% of the labour force is out of work. We also ask: is COVID-19 just a “force of nature”? What about the way the health and welfare systems that are meant to protect us failed and collapsed while we needed them most? We also consider the economic policy steps that world leaders including Boris Johnson in the UK and Emmanuel Macron in France opted to take during the pandemic. These are steps that, had they been suggested just two years ago, would have been dismissed by the likes of Macron and Johnson with laughter. Here we can see proof that neoliberal economics is not an immutable law of nature. Finally, we examine the role of Palestinian-Arab citizens in Israel in the current developments in the mass social protests and political system.

I invite those of you who read Arabic and Hebrew to explore the first issue of Majority Magazine and offer your comments. And, as we make plans to publish articles in English in the near future, we look forward to sharing our conversations about building a just and fairer world with even more people looking for change.

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, the International Inequalities Institute, or the London School of Economics and Political Science.