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March to Jerusalem: A Sizzle or a Fizzle?

(Media Line-Arab News-Saudi Arabia) Arieh O'Sullivan - On March 30, scores of convoys and multitudes of people are planning to converge on Jerusalem in protest of what they claim are land confiscations by Israel. Dubbed the "Global March to Jerusalem," organizers are planning rallies worldwide with the bulk of the demonstrators moving on Israel's borders. While Israel is downplaying the event diplomatically, it has nevertheless beefed up its security forces and issued warnings to neighboring Arab states not to allow demonstrators near the borders, lest there be a replay of similar marches last year that saw over a dozen people killed and hundreds wounded while trying to breech minefields and penetrate Israel's frontiers. But this year's planned massive demonstration is coming at a time when the Palestinian issue has fallen off the political table and may quite possibly not generate much support from the Palestinians themselves who live in the West Bank and who prefer the current economic prosperity and security calm to renewed violence with Israel. Despite the attention this event has garnered in the media, there is little indication that there would be a large-scale response by the Palestinians in the West Bank. "The Palestinians at the moment are in no mood for this kind of activity," said Col. (res.) Moshe Elad, a former Israeli chief liaison officer with the Palestinians.
2012-03-28 00:00:00
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