Special Presentation: Save Israel’s Democracy

Yael Niv is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Princeton University. She is an Israeli, living in the United States since 2007. She is a long-time activist for democracy in NJ as the co-founder and President of the Good Government Coalition of New Jersey (GGCNJ). In the past year, she was on sabbatical in Israel and took an active part in the protest movement to support democracy in Israel. She protested with many groups, including Moms Against Violence and was part of an initiative to provide initial mental health support to protesters. She participated in the protests in Tel Aviv (the central Kaplan protests) as well as in her town, Ness Ziyonna, where she set up and was part of the team of the mental health support. In a farewell speech to the protesters in Ness Ziyonna, she spoke about self-care during a prolonged struggle. Her speech was very well received, with parts of it reproduced in one of the main Israeli newspapers. Now back in the US, she is still protesting, and representing KaplanForce in meetings with the diaspora, and in educating the American Jewish community on what is happening in Israel and how they may be able to help. She can explain and answer questions about the political situation, and give a personal account of the protests and their impact.

David Enoch is an ethicist and philosopher of law with research interests in moral, political and legal philosophy. He is the co-director of the Center for Moral and Political Philosophy and has been the Rodney Blackman Chair in the Philosophy of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem since 2005. He is an activist for democracy in the protests in Israel, and part of the leadership of the protest group, There is No Academia Without Democracy (see also here). He has produced excellent informational videos regarding the situation in Israel for this protest group. Dr. Enoch is in the USA for a professional conference, and will speak about the democracy protests and answer questions as a legal scholar and an ethicist.