Kaffe with Kalela

At this Kaffe, I will be joined by special guests Moran Zer Katzenstein, founder of Bonot Alternativa (“building an alternative”) and leader of the Israeli women’s protest movement, and Prof. Gila Stopler, founder of the Law Professors’ Forum for Democracy. Together, Moran and Gila lead the exciting new project supported by NCJW’s Israel Granting Program: “Womansplaining”!

The protest movement that has swept Israel over the past few months is based on hundreds of spontaneous, grassroots, citizen initiatives. In June’s Kaffe, we will take a deep dive into two of these initiatives, and the incredible project they have created together.

Bonot Alternativa (“building an alternative”), founded by Moran Zer Katzenstein, is a grass-roots feminist movement that has galvanized Israeli women in unprecedented numbers to show up at demonstrations across the country and shine a light on the threats posed by the government’s judicial overhaul legislation – and other law proposals – to women. Organizing in local and national groups through the messaging app “WhatsApp”, Bonot Alternativa has built a network of over 40,000 women from all sectors of Israeli society.

The Law Professor’s Forum for Democracy, co-founded by Professor Gila Stopler, is a spontaneous initiative established by a group of legal experts, which aims to break down the government’s legislative proposals and explain the concrete ways they could harm the general public.

Drawing on the vast network of Bonot Alternativa combined with the legal expertise of the Forum, Womansplaining is an ambitious nationwide program to educate women in local community groups about their rights as enshrined in Israeli law and the dangers posed specifically to women by legislation proposed by the current Israeli government.

Join us to learn from Moran and Gila about how their initiatives got started, about their joint venture Womansplaining, and about how these new forms of activism are shaping a new bottom-up democratic culture in Israel to combat the forces of extremism and populism.

Kalela Lancaster

Register here to join the meet up!