Could the Arab Spring come to Israel this Fall? Will IDF soldiers emulate Syrian troops and kill unarmed Palestinian protesters who are demonstrating in support of a United Nations resolution for Palestinian statehood? Israeli Member of Parliament Shaul Mofaz warns that he expects there will be disturbances during the statehood demonstrations and they “can potentially turn into a violent, painful event, with unclear results.” Mofaz predicts that his government will call up the army reserves to protect its Jewish Israeli citizens.
The Palestinian Authority is planning peaceful mass demonstrations starting on the evening of September 20, which officials hope will be the day before the United Nations General Assembly votes on a resolution to accept Palestine as a member state. Recent non-violent protests such as the naqba, naksa, flytilla, and flotilla demonstrations have been met with Israeli military and police violence, in some cases lethal.
Recent actions have shown that for the Israeli authorities the presence of non-violent protesters is intolerable and that Israelis think that it is legitimate to stop demonstrations even if this means killing defenseless civilians. Any murders can be justified by the claim of pre-emptive self-defense. Hey, we have our own Jewish “Arab Spring” here. The flotilla activists posed an existential threat to the naval commandos, right? Or the Palestinian demonstrators presence at the gates of the settlements is an unacceptable provocation. Sure. It is difficult to believe, but some call this criminal behavior “purity of arms” and say that these assassins are the most moral army in the world.
According to Ha’aretz, the Israeli Chief of Staff, Benny Gantz told a parliamentary committee that he and his men will protect the country from the non-violent Palestinian protesters who go near nice Jewish neighborhoods in the West Bank or god-forbid try to enter Israel. Gantz makes it clear that Israel will not tolerate protesters who come to close to its Jewish citizens.
While Abed Rabbo said all Palestinian demonstrations would be nonviolent, Israeli security officials have repeatedly expressed concern that mass unrest could quickly turn violent.
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, warned a parliamentary committee this week that “there is potential for a confrontation in September.”
He said the military expects “many thousands of people to conduct a quiet and nonviolent protest” that would move toward Israeli settlements or Israel proper. “The military will not be able to place the settlements at risk in such cases,” he was quoted as saying.
Gantz’s comments were relayed by a participant in Sunday’s meeting. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the testimony was in a closed session.
I do not discount the possibility that some of the statehood demonstrations could turn violent. However, I get the feeling that the IDF is preparing to act with the lack of restraint for which it has become increasingly known. This does not bode well for a nice peaceful Jewish Arab Spring this Fall.
