Some of the calls for action on this weekend of commemoration of the Nakba (catastrophe), or the Palestinian dispossession that took place some 63 years ago, in the fighting that surrounded the creation of the State of Israel, said this would be the start of the Third Palestinian Intifada — which they want to be decidedly non-violent.
The coordination of demonstrations within the West Bank and Gaza, with simultaneous action by Palestinian refugees demanding return from the borders of Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, caused a serious case of jitters in the Israeli military and security establishment, who did make real preparations to prevent any upset to the current status quo.
Not-fully-trained IDF recruits were prepared to confront mass popular demonstrations along The Wall in the West Bank.
Police were deployed throughout East Jerusalem.
Other Israeli preparations were made along the borders.
This has been the talk at dinner tables and social gatherings over the last month.
However, some Palestinians predict that despite the build-up, in expectations as well as in troop deployments, not much will happen.
Certainly, they say, not much will happen if most people will continue only to discuss the matter at their dinner tables, while just a few others will be putting their bodies on the front lines. No one is willing to pay the price of the predictable reaction as long as most Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank are going to stay comfortably at home, participating mainly only virtually.
One death has already been recorded in clashes in East Jerusalem.
But, most of East Jerusalem is still quiet…
YNet is reporting here that “Israel’s political leadership instructed the IDF not to take risks and assume major precautions. Indeed, the army already reinforced its troops in the West Bank and prepared reserve forces as well. The IDF will deploy in force at potential trouble spots, in order to make its presence felt and create deterrence. In the first circles of friction with protestors, soldiers will not be carrying weapons, but rather, only crowd-control means. The orders call on soldiers to show restraint and avoid casualties, which are the tested and true recipe for escalation; we want zero funerals, as the army refers to it. In the next circles of security, there will be a response for the possibility that the protestors will also include gunmen in their midst. Soldiers have been instructed to put an end to any escalation at its early stages, using massive force. Meanwhile, Israeli officials hope that their coordination with the Palestinian Authority will remain effective, as it was in the past”.
Though nobody knows for sure, the YNet article says, and an escalation could easily happen despite the best intentions, “Officials in the defense establishment and at the Prime Minister’s Office have a feeling that the Palestinian Authority’s interest – despite the coordination with Hamas – prompts the conclusion that ‘wasting’ the public’s energies on ‘Nakba Day’ is not a worthwhile move. These energies are better reserved for September, when Palestinian statehood may be declared”…
The YNet article does note, however, that ” ‘Nakba Day’ events will be taking place at various locations, in different geographical areas, and may deeply affect each other. Hence, any pledge by any element, but it Israeli or Palestinian, to maintain restraint in the West Bank promises nothing. The situation in the West Bank may escalate to uncontrolled violence as result of external influence, such as the following: Protests by the Islamic Brotherhood and opposition elements in Jordan; marches towards that border that will be aired on TV and inflame emotions; mass demonstrations in Egypt under the banner of the ‘Third Intifada committee’; mass marches in Gaza; violence among Arab-Israelis; and a flare-up in the Middle East’s most problematic theater: Friday prayers”…