IDF hopes Palestinians will be violent

Roi Maor By Roi Maor March 9, 2011 | Edit

Some people in Israel are still naïve enough to think that the IDF’s task is to ensure the security of Israel and its residents. Here is what a senior officer serving in the West Bank told Ha’aretz (full credit for all the bizarre syntax and grammar errors in the following quotes should be given to Ha’aretz translators):

“In the past year, even before the events in Egypt and Tunisia, we connected the dots and decided what was needed in the [IDF] division [in charge of the West Bank], down to the level of inventory of crowd-dispersal means and the preparation of infrastructure to prevent such events from taking place”

In “such events”, the officer is explicitly referring to nonviolent demonstrations. These types of events are really scaring the military, or as another officer says: “There is nothing for it if something like what happened in Tunisia happens here”. But not to worry, as yet another officer promises that the chances for such nonviolent demonstrations in the West Bank are “low”:

“It’s hard to believe there wouldn’t be organizations that wouldn’t hitch a ride and try to attack the IDF, thus the situation would not be similar to Egypt”

So to recap: the IDF is deeply worried about the prospect of nonviolent demonstrations, and is doing all in its power to prevent them, but is reassured by the hope that if there are any demonstrations, they will be violent. The very people who are supposed to protect us from violence, are praying for it, and doing all they can to stop nonviolence.

Roi Maor

I am an activist for social rights and human rights in Israel and Palestine, living in Tel Aviv. I’ve written several human rights reports and op-eds in ynet, Ha’aretz and the Jerusalem Post. Over the last few years, I volunteered and worked for several Israeli NGOs, including Yesh Din, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights. The views expressed in this blog are mine and mine alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of the organizations I work for.

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