Israel Matzav: Surprise: 'Palestinians' have no King or Gandhi

Surprise: 'Palestinians' have no King or Gandhi

Some 'Palestinians' are trying to promote a non-violent protest movement. They want to try to the King - Gandhi approach of civil disobedience against Israel. There's only one problem. It's kind of like when they tried 'peace' but kept the violence in their back pocket 'in case we don't get what we want.' It's happening again.

Unlike Ghandi or the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., however, the Palestinians who support this approach for the most part don’t appear to be embracing nonviolence as a philosophy. Rather they see it as part of a calculated strategy to achieve Palestinian goals.

“It's about seeing benefits,” Burnat said. “If we don't see them, it's up to us to decide what kind of resistance we would then use next."

To be sure, the movement encompasses only a narrow swath of Palestinian society, and even the movement’s own protests aren’t completely free of violence. In weekly demonstrations in Bil’in against Israel’s West Bank security fence, for example, the Palestinians throw stones. Demonstrators say the stones are a response to Israeli soldiers shooting tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the gatherings.

The shift to nonviolence began in Bil’in, west of Ramallah, about six years ago, and it was in Bil’in last week that Palestinians held a three-day conference on Palestinian popular resistance.

Sounds real 'peaceful,' doesn't it? What 'shift to non-violence'? Have you seen pictures of what Bil'in looks like every week? This is from two weeks ago.

Let's go to the videotape. The violence starts around the 2:00 mark and for the most part you will not see what the 'demonstrators' throw at the soldiers - only teargas canisters landing around them.



Doesn't look like a Martin Luther King demonstration, does it?

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: Surprise: 'Palestinians' have no King or Gandhi