Beppe Grillo, leader of the Italian Five Star Movement, came like a bolt of lightning in the darkening skies of Europe. And, as argued by both Grillo and his party, it seems that their emergence in the recent general election in Italy points toward a much wider phenomenon than a mere random protest vote.

In fact, in a number of European countries, the ideological frames of operation of politics have extended far afield. It started with the green parties, continued with anti-European parties (such as the British UKIP, the UK Independence Party, which seeks the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union) and pro-[Internet] piracy parties, and has now culminated in an all-out protest party like the Five Star Movement, which talks, rather chaotically, about ecology, government corruption, the European Union failures, direct democracy, and the like. In a certain sense, Grillo is a separatist, which, on the face of it, seems to contradict the notion of a universal agenda. However, it somehow all falls into place, as Grillo is, simply, the voice of protest. And his rivals would say that it is protest for the sake of protest. 

In a far deeper sense, the rise of Beppe Grillo and his movement is the result of an Italian government crisis that has been going on for many decades. But more than a matter of governmental failure, it is the direct outcome of the soaring unemployment rates in southern Europe, from Portugal through Spain, to Italy and Greece. Italy is currently undergoing an unprecedented period of economic stagnation. Under the circumstances, Grillo comes as no surprise.

In Israel, the intense social justice protest of 2011 — as reflected in the mass demonstrations that swept across the country, the likes of which had never been seen before in Israel — was the product of complex circumstances, but it was undoubtedly influenced (not necessarily in the following order) by the Arab spring, the global economic crisis and, above all, the high cost of living and skyrocketing housing prices. The nationwide protest called for a “New Deal” for Israeli society and dealt at large with the deep cuts in the state budget earmarked for social welfare services, the takeover of the economy by tycoons and the plight of young families looking for somewhere to live.