Talking to a senior Middle East expert a few weeks back, I was struck by his blunt assessment that after the UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood in September, he fully expected there to be a third intifada immediately afterwards – except that this time, it would be nonviolent. So it was interesting to see this little nugget in Haaretz today:
As September draws nearer, the Israel Defense Forces has been conducting drills in order to contend with the possibility of a mass civilian uprising in the West Bank in the wake of the Palestinian bid to seek unilateral recognition in the United Nations.
“A non-violent protest of 4,000 people or more, even if they only march to a checkpoint or a settlement, and especially if the Palestinian police does not deter them, will be unstoppable,” one IDF officer claims. “Such a great number of determined people cannot be stopped by tear gas and rubber bullets.”
Another high ranking IDF official serving in the territories claimed that “if we are to face protests similar to those in Egypt or Tunisia, we will not be able to do a thing.”
