Extinction Rebellion co-founder ‘offering advice’ to Israeli anti-govt protest leaders
Leaders of one of the influential grassroots groups taking part in mass protests in Israel against Netanyahu's judicial overhaul confirms Roger Hallam has given activists 'many hours' of advice
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
The co-founder of Extinction Rebellion has been offering advice to the leaders of one radical group participating in the mass protests against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, it has emerged.
Roger Hallam, who founded the environmental nonviolent protest movement in 2018, has reportedly been mentoring the leaders of a grassroots Israeli group named Constitution from Below on tactics to use in their own demonstrations against Netanyahu’s increasingly far-right coalition government.
Hallam is said to have given the Israeli protesters “many hours of discussions and learning under his tutelage” in a series of Zoom meetings with the founders of group who say their goal is to develop a “constitution by broad agreement that is written by the people, for the benefit of the people”.
The 57 year-old’s involvement with the more radical side of the Israel’s anti-government protest movement was revealed in a feature on the young people attempting to fight back against the Jewish state’s slide into authoritarianism, which appeared in the newspaper Haaretz.
The newspaper spoke with a selection of activists aged 16 to 24, determined to change the future shape of the Israeli state, including Ariel Dukelski and Omer Ovadiya, from Tel Aviv, and Givatayim, founders of the Constitution from Below group.
Ovadiya, 23, revealed he had travelled to London for a meeting with Hallam, to develop ideas on becoming more influential amongst those taking part in the Israeli protests.
He told Haaretz that at the initial meeting Hallam said:”‘Listen, find a group of five or six people and I’ll help you. Fifty percent of the work is finding the people.’”
Ovadiya said that after succeeding in recruting the group, including Dukelski, who had just completed national service with the IDF, they held further significant meetings with Hallam on Zoom.
He told the Israeli newspaper that in March, after Netanyahu fired his defense minister Yoav Gallant, who had urged a halt to the regime coup, and masses of Israelis poured into the streets in protest, the group sought further advice from Hallam on their next steps.
Ovadiya said he told the Extinction Rebellion leader he had recruited a group of people “and there is a historic protest in Israel.”
He said Hallam was “enthusiastic and started mentoring them” and that “the group held many hours of discussions and learning under his tutelage.”
The Israeli activists revealed they “studied citizens’ assemblies” in which people who are chosen randomly, in relation to their group’s proportion of the population, to meet to discuss and decide on public issues, such as a constitution.
Ovadiya told Haaretz: “We want a constitution by broad agreement that is written by the people, for the benefit of the people. We are proposing a procedure that is good for all sides except for those who are powerful.”
While Constitution from Below has managed to secure significant support at a grassroots level, the group’s leader’s admit that their views do not represent those of the majority on the protests.
Hallam, one was once an organic farmer living in south Wales, has gone on to become one of the most recognisable figures in the environmental protest movement.
Extinction Rebellion protests have drawn widespread attention to issues such as biodiversity loss, crop failure and social and ecological collapse.
While some have criticised their actions as being extreme, protests have attracted support from some communal environmental groups.
In 2019, Rabbi Jeffrey Newman was photographed joining demonstrators who displayed a banner reading XR Jews at a protest.
But Hallam has also been at the centre of controversy on several occasions, including when he said in an interview in 2019 that aid genocides are “like a regular event” in history and called the Holocaust “just another f**kery in human history.”
This comment was made in the context of a broader discussion on genocides throughout human history, where Hallam compared the Nazi Holocaust to the Congo genocide; as he stated the “fact of the matter is, millions of people have been killed in vicious circumstances on a regular basis throughout history”
Only this week Hallam took aim at the “urban middle-class neo-liberal Left” supporters of the ULEZ scheme saying it was “intrusive” and “regressive ” for some of the lowest-paid workers in London.
In Israel protesters gathered in huge numbers for the 32nd week in row last weekend. More than 150 other demonstrations were slated to take place across the country, including outside the homes of top government members.
Jewish News has approached Hallam for comment over his involvement with Israeli protest groups.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
