The protest within protest: Feminism and ethnicities in the 2011 Israeli protest movement

SynopsisThis paper develops one aspect of the (gendered and feminist) right to the city, that of inclusion of people of diverse identities as part of the politicization of public spaces by activists. It analyzes these processes in the activities of Levinsky camp in southern Tel Aviv during the 2011 Israeli protest movement. Using the (gendered and feminist) right to the city and spatial activism concepts, the paper intervenes in current debates in that it presents practices of inclusion blurring the boundaries between “private” (hidden) people, actions and issues and publicizing them. These practices are analyzed in three stages of the camp's history: its construction; its functioning as a political space and the paradox of inclusion that emerged. In doing so, the paper emphasizes how the Mizrahi feminist activists at Levinsky articulated new ways of inclusion in their spatial activism, enabling different groups to join together with the feminist leaders for political and spatial action who maintained its momentum for a while.