The following is an excerpt from “Israel: Democracy, Race, Ethnicity, and More” (Fragments #2).
GILI GETZ (he/him) is an Israeli-American photojournalist, actor, and peace activist. He served as a military photographer for the IDF and as a news editor for Ynet. His work in recent years has focused on American Jewish political activism. He is regularly published in Jewish and Israeli press and was featured by Princeton University in the book “Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel” by Professor Dov Waxman. Gili serves as the president of American Friends Of Combatants for Peace.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT: In April 2023, I immersed myself in the historic Israeli protest movement, capturing moments that portray a diverse spectrum of Israelis united in their fight for democracy. They stand against the Judicial Coup and resist the destruction of Israel’s democratic structure and the undermining of Israeli security by the same Jewish supremacist forces who are advancing apartheid and theocracy.
In the cover image (bottom), a protester holds the head of David Ben-Gurion with the word “oops,” symbolizing a very prevalent feeling in Israeli society that something went terribly wrong. That the most extremist government in Israeli history is destroying the vision of the creation of the state and its democratic character, as well as the freedom and security of our people.
The flag image (top) is taken during the Pink Front’s weekly march, where a fire is lit. Amidst the flames, the Israeli flags at the center almost merge into one, yet the Stars of David within them appear to drift apart. This photo, to me, embodies the mass fragmentation of Israeli society due to the ongoing authoritarian coup, signifying a profound division among Israeli Jews and the Jewish people on existential questions of democracy, freedom, and equality.
