Israel Calls Peaceful Palestinian Protests – ‘A Virus’

Israel Calls Peaceful Palestinian Protests – ‘A Virus’

As people throughout the Middle East are staging uprisings struggling to achieve governmental transparency and democracy, Palestinians under siege in Israel face the harshest reality of all their neighboring countries as they peacefully protest.

The US and other Western powers applaud the uprisings in the Middle East, seeing them as a move toward democracy; however, Israel calls the uprisings a ‘virus’

and fears that the move toward democracy and social justice will spread, thereby threatening its existence.

Israel is known for its prowess at quashing any form of Palestinian unrest. The military has delegated its best soldiers, investigators and judges to safeguarding Israel against the Nabi Saleh popular uprising.

There have been weekly protests in Nabi Saleh and the 500 people who live there have been facing Israel ‘s consistent suppression. Israel is fighting back at the tiny population with massive quantities of tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, gas canisters with illegally extended ranges, beatings, and home invasions. Israel has called on the elite of its defense forces to suppress the movement for democracy. The uprisings began in 2009, and since then 155 of the residents have been injured, 40 percent of whom are children, and thirty-five houses have been damaged in the process of dispersing the demonstrations.

The Palestinians want their rights. Disappointed in following the peace process as it has only led to more settlements and settlers, many Palestinians are now admitting they have lost more during the peace process than at any other time. Palestinians believe that through a popular struggle they can prove they are morally superior.

The traditional means of resistance is making way for a computer-savvy generation of professionals, who are carefully watching their Arab neighbors as they successfully engage in popular protests.

In the meantime, young Palestinians are opting to scrap parliament and step away from the traditional divisions between Fateh and Hamas. With Israel occupying most of their land, the youth are desperate to change the way things work in Palestine . Inspired by regional protests, Palestinians in both territories are seeking an end to the division.

Following the age-old principle of ‘divide and conquer’, and benefiting from the rivalry between Fateh and Hamas, Israel is afraid of the radical changes  taking place in Palestine . Palestinians want new rulers who are not affiliated with any party and believe that should be followed by free and fair elections.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/mighty-israel-and-its-quest-to-quash-palestinian-popular-protest-1.352248

http://www.economist.com/node/18447012?story_id=18447012&fsrc=scn/tw/te/rss/pe