Salvage some sense of control by simply knowing whose day it is to make commuters’ lives miserable in the least politically-effective way possible.
Tel Aviv, February 6 – Commuters in Israel’s busiest economic region have a new tool available to them during their morning and evening journeys, a tech startup announced today: a set of alerts on one’s smartphone offering commuters quick information on the identity and states aims of the shifting groups of protesters who get in the way each morning and afternoon under the unproven premise that making enemies of commuters offers the best chance to effect social change.
Mordor Solutions, launched in 2022, released its Fullovit app this week, which will inform users what cause, movement, organizations, or “grassroots” group has decided to be that day’s source of to- and from-work misery on the roads.
“Part of the frustration of the phenomenon is a lack of information,” explained Mordor co-founder Orek Hasum. “Drivers and passengers sitting in protest-induced traffic jams might not be able to remove the demonstrators themselves, but can at least salvage some sense of control by simply knowing whose day it is to make commuters’ lives miserable in the least politically-effective way possible.”
Political scientists, sociologists, and statisticians have yet to document any protest that sparked a single change in voters’ minds in favor of the causes that disruptive demonstrations tout. “But of course that’s not what genuinely motivates the protesters,” observed Itza Boutmi, who studies Israeli politics. “That’s what they will tell you, and that might even be what they genuinely believe they’re aiming for. But the simple fact remains that participating in disruptive protests has the chief outcome of making the participants feel righteous.”
“Just consider it from a common sense point of view,” she continued. “People who want to generate sympathy, if not outright support, for their position will refrain from antagonizing the very voters who will determine the fate of the cause in question. So it’s clearly not about attracting or convincing the voters.”
Polls consistently show no tangible shifts in electoral politics despite weekly, and sometimes nightly, protests at some of Israel’s busiest intersections, arteries, and public squares. Yet the protests continue – because, experts agree, the NGOs agitating for change only have that one weapon, and the progressive-NGO-friendly Israeli media oblige them with wall-to-wall coverage.
At least some analysts believe that the mistaken premise of if-I-make-your-life-miserable-you’ll-come-around-to-my-way-of-thinking has such staying power because it gets constant use in Palestinian terrorism, and has become the only model of public engagement that makes garners any news coverage anymore, despite its manifest ineffectiveness.
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