LSE exhibition highlights Israel’s pro-democracy movement as final day approaches
LSE display of Israel’s protest movement closes today after drawing strong interest from Jewish visitors and students
A London School of Economics exhibition documenting Israel’s pro-democracy protest movement – including demonstrations calling for a hostage deal after 7 October – closes this week, after a month-long run that highlighted a rarely seen dimension of Israeli civic life.
Red Alert on Democracy: Photographing Protests and Civil Resistance in Israel Before and After October 7, shown at LSE’s Atrium Gallery, brought together work by HaSayeret, a volunteer collective of Israeli photographers who have tracked the country’s protest movement since 2020.
The images – many never displayed in the UK – captured mass rallies against the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul, alongside the huge demonstrations that erupted after the Hamas attacks, demanding a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Lead curator Professor Shani Orgad, of LSE’s Department of Media and Communications, said the exhibition aimed to draw attention to a major civic movement that has received limited international coverage.
“Since January 2023, Israel has witnessed an unprecedented wave of mass protests,” she said. “Following 7 October, these transformed into increasingly large and vocal demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages. Despite the scale and persistence of this civic movement, it has received remarkably little international coverage.”
Orgad said the exhibition had resonated strongly with Jewish visitors, including British teenagers, youth movement madrichim and Sixth Form students, many of whom said they were struck by seeing Israelis “fighting for their democracy” amid war and global antisemitism.
The display also included artefacts from protest groups – banners, stickers and T-shirts counting the number of days hostages have been held in Gaza – which visitors described as among the exhibition’s most powerful elements.
The show formed part of HaTikva (The Hope): The Struggle for Israel’s Future, a global series curated by Dr Tanya Zion-Waldoks and Hani Baruchin that has toured four continents. Zion-Waldoks will deliver a closing lecture at LSE this evening exploring protest photography and civic resistance.
The exhibition remains free to view at LSE until tomorrow.
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