Officials: Israel ready for ‘Global March to J'lem

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Officials: Israel ready for ‘Global March to J'lem’
By OREN KESSLER, YAAKOV LAPPIN, HERB KEINON
LAST UPDATED: 03/26/2012 03:31
Processions planned on Israel's borders to mark 36th anniversary of Land Day; Iran pressuring its Jews to take part.


Israel is prepared to handle this week’s “Global March to Jerusalem,” officials said on Sunday, as organizers plan a multi-pronged rush on the country’s borders to mark the 36th anniversary of Land Day on Friday.

Organizers of the event – known as “GMJ” – say they are planning peaceful marches on the Israeli border in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, at checkpoints in the West Bank and at entrances to the Gaza Strip.
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“Our aim is to end the Zionist policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and Judaization, which all harm the people, land and sanctity of Jerusalem,” they wrote on the event’s official homepage. “The GMJ is comprised of a diverse coalition of Palestinian, Arab and international activists who are united in the struggle to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem (the city of peace) from illegal Zionist occupation.”

Organizers said processions would also be organized in Arab and Muslim capitals worldwide, and in front of Israeli embassies in a number of unspecified countries.

Friday marks 36 years since the first Land Day, when tens of thousands of Israeli Arabs – and Palestinians marching in solidarity in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon – rallied against government plans to take control of hundreds of hectares of land in the Galilee and the Negev. Six Israeli Arabs were killed and around 100 were wounded in the protests.

On Sunday, officials said security forces had been given refresher training on non-lethal crowd dispersal techniques. They said border police have been put on alert in Israel and the West Bank, and additional officers deployed to the northern borders to reinforce IDF units.

“We’ve been through this before,” a security source said of Friday’s planned marches. Last May, 13 people were killed while trying to breach the Syrian and Lebanese borders with Israel on “Nakba Day,” the annual date when Palestinians mourn the Jewish state’s creation in 1948. The following month 12 people were injured on the Syrian frontier on “Naksa Day,” marking Arab defeat and territorial losses in the 1967 Six Day War.

Another official said all necessary precautions were being taken, and that Jordan and Egypt had an interest in keeping their borders quiet.

The situation in Lebanon is less clear. One Israeli official said marchers would likely proceed as far as Beaufort – a Crusader castle several kilometers north of the border – while another warned that Iranian involvement in Lebanon’s south means no scenario could be ruled out.

Earlier this week, the Israel-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported that Iran is the primary force behind the initiative, both directly and through proxies such as Hezbollah. In February, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei described the Global March as an expression of Iran’s policy to strengthen “resistance operations” against Israel.

This month, the GMJ website claimed a Jewish-Iranian umbrella group had thrown its support behind the marches. “We the Iranian Jewry alongside the strata of Iranian people, under the guidance of the leadership, announce that we shall fight against imperialism and Zionism until all the lawful rights of the valiant nation of Palestine are met,” the Society of Iranian Jews was quoted as saying.

“We the Iranian Jewry would also like to show the disassociation of the anti-humanitarian works committed by the occupying Israeli regime and their usurping army with the commandments of divine laws of Prophet Moses (P.B.U.H). We would like to show our support with all those who desire the lawful rights of the valiant nation of Palestine,” the group said.

The statement was signed by Ciamak Mordesadegh – who holds the one Iranian parliamentary seat reserved for Jews – and Rabbi Mashallah Golestaninejad, a Jewish leader in the country.

DEBKAfile reported on Friday that Hussein Sheikholeslam – an Iranian parliamentarian it describes as one of the march’s organizers – instructed Jewish leaders to provide 10 men aged 18 to 22 to be given “the honor” of acting as the vanguard in breaking through the Lebanese-Israeli border fence. The report – which could not be independently verified – quoted Iranian sources as saying authorities may have demanded the inclusion of Jewish marchers so Israeli soldiers would be constrained from opening fire.

In January, the GMJ’s International Central Committee held its first and only meeting in Beirut. The committee consists of anti-Israel activists from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and several other Arab, Muslim and Western states.

The panel includes one Israeli citizen – Muhammad Zeidan, chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, a nongovernmental organization representing Israeli Arabs at the national level. Zeidan sailed on the Mavi Marmara in the 2010 Gaza protest flotilla, in which nine people were killed by Israel Navy commandos while trying to run the Israeli blockade.

One of the GMJ’s major themes is what it describes as Israel’s “Judaization” of Jerusalem.

“Over the last several years Zionist efforts to ‘Judaize’ the city have quickened pace in an attempt to erase Jerusalem’s physical, cultural and spiritual characteristics,” organizers wrote, adding that such efforts have been aimed at changing the city’s demographics “from a Palestinian to a Jewish majority.”

The GMJ website refers to all of Israel as occupied land.

“Massive marches will be organized in Palestine (the 1948 seizures, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) towards Jerusalem or to the nearest point to it,” it says.

The logo on the homepage features all of Mandatory Palestine, and is set against a banner showing Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Muslim and Christian holy places are set against the backdrop of the Mount of Olives, but the sprawling 3,000-year-old Jewish cemetery with its 150,000 tombstones is absent, replaced by a barren hillside.

www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=263393

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Two million set for ‘March on Jerusalem’ Friday, organizer claims
Israel has urged neighboring states not to let participants reach its borders
By Elhanan Miller March 26, 2012, 4:57 pm 92


Two million Arab and international protesters will march toward the borders of Israel and take part in activities designed to highlight Jerusalem’s Arab character on Friday, the event organizer claims.

Ribhi Haloum, general coordinator of the “Global March to Jerusalem,” said in a press statement that volunteers from 80 countries will take part in the march. Jordan and Lebanon will send protesters to the border, whereas Egypt will organize a solidarity marathon from Cairo University to the pyramids in Giza and a large rally at Al-Azhar University.

The organizers emphasized the peaceful nature of the march, which will coincide with Land Day, an annual day of commemoration marked by Arab citizens of Israel to protest land confiscation.

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But judging by the event’s Facebook page, at least some supporters are demanding concrete action on Jerusalem.

“What will you do after the march? Liberate it!” wrote commentator Muhammad Malkawi. Other talkbackers asked about solidarity activities in Sudan or Iraq.
Global March to Jerusalem Facebook page (photo credit: Facebook screen grab)

Global March to Jerusalem Facebook page (photo credit: Facebook screen grab)

In Jordan, protesters will be bused from downtown Amman to Maghtis in the Jordan Valley, across the border from kibbutz Beit Ha’arava. They will conduct Friday prayers at the border. In Lebanon, demonstrators will congregate at the Beaufort Castle, not far from the Israeli town of Metula.

According to the event’s Facebook page, Syrian Palestinians will organize activities “in accordance with the domestic situation there.” Jordanian daily A-Dustour reported Monday that activists have landed in Syria aboard Iranian airplanes.

The march organizers also boast the participation of a Neturei Karta delegation, an ultra-Orthodox group that opposes Zionism.

Israel has warned a number of Arab states against the march, preparing the IDF for possible confrontation with protesters attempting to cross the border.

Israel claims the march is organized by hostile elements and last week sent messages directly or indirectly to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the Hamas government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority, calling on them not to allow escalation in the area by allowing marches to the borders.

Organizers claim more than 700 institutions from 64 states are involved in the rally. Protests are also planned to take place outside Israeli embassies in Europe and Arab countries.


www.timesofisrael.com/two-million-protesters-to-march-on-jerusalem-organizer-says/

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Barak: We need to brace for extreme scenarios on our borders

Ahead of “Global March to Jerusalem” on Friday, security forces finalize preparations for possible unrest along Israel’s borders • Preparations include clarifying IDF rules of engagement, soldier reinforcement across the country, and equipping soldiers with riot control equipment • Defense establishment also closely monitoring social media sites • PA security forces: We are cooperating with the IDF.
Lilach Shoval, Daniel Siryoti, Itsik Saban and Israel Hayom Staff

Security forces need to brace themselves for the possibility of “extreme scenarios” on Israel’s borders this week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said ahead of the pro-Palestinian “Global March to Jerusalem,” scheduled to take place on Friday.

As part of the campaign, pro-Palestinian activists from neighboring countries and beyond plan to march toward Israel’s borders in a show of support for the Palestinians.

The march is expected to be held on March 30, which Israeli Arabs mark as Land Day, the anniversary of a 1976 general Palestinian strike to protest Israel’s announcement it would expropriate land for settlements. Observance of Land Day has now evolved into a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Defense officials are currently preparing for potential disturbances along Israel’s borders with Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip.

Barak, who held a series of discussions in recent days regarding security preparations ahead of the marches, instructed security forces to prepare for the possibility of extreme disturbances on the borders, as well.

Security preparations have included clarifying the rules of engagement for Israel Defense Forces soldiers, soldier reinforcement in some sectors across the country, and equipping soldiers with riot control equipment.

The IDF has been bracing for a fairly severe scenario, but intelligence assessments say the scope of the protests will actually be relatively limited. The army is concerned mainly about the march at the Lebanese border, as it is expected that Hezbollah will participate. They are also keeping a close eye on the Syrian border, in light of the continuing unrest in that country.

Defense sources note that Iran and radical Islamist groups been active in spurring the protests toward Israel’s borders on Friday.

The defense establishment is also closely monitoring social media websites ahead of Friday’s events. Social media sites have played a major role in promoting the demonstrations and rallies that have swept the region since last year in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring, and have been used as a tool to organize and coordinate protests.

Thousands of police officers have also been gearing up for violent disturbances within Israel, which have the potential, defense officials say, to erupt across the country, mainly in the North of Israel and in Jerusalem, where a Palestinian march to the Temple Mount during Friday prayers is in the works.

Additionally, police forces have been instructed to cancel upcoming vacations and officers already on recess have been requested to return for the purpose of reinforcement of the Jerusalem District and Northern District Police divisions.

The organizers of a “million-man march” set to take place in Lebanon said that hundreds of thousands of demonstrators from 80 countries are expected to participate in parallel events to mark Land Day and show support for the Palestinians. One of the campaign coordinators in Lebanon, Dr. Ribhi Halem, said, “The march was intended to convey a message of protest and condemnation of the Israeli occupation policy, and not a message of violence.”

In Ramallah, Palestinian security forces said, “We’ve been cooperating with Israeli forces. We have an agreement by which the IDF will let us handle the Palestinian cities and will avoid entering the area so as not to fan any flames.”

Israel hopes to avoid a repeat of last year’s “Nakba Day” events, when hundreds of Arab demonstrators from Syria protesting the “catastrophe” of Israel’s establishment infiltrated the northern border into Israel and clashed with soldiers, leading to the death of several rioters and sparking an international outcry against Israel.


www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=3720

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IDF, police brace for Global March to Jerusalem
By YAAKOV KATZ, HERB KEINON
03/30/2012 04:37

Defense Minister Barak orders IDF to prepare for a wide range of violent scenarios that could break out along the borders, and military sources say troops under orders to use force to prevent infiltrations.

The IDF and Israel Police went on high alert Thursday and canceled weekend leave for thousands of soldiers and policemen ahead of the Global March to Jerusalem planned to begin Friday along Israel’s borders.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the IDF to prepare for a wide range of violent scenarios that could break out along the borders, and military sources said that troops were under orders to use force to prevent infiltrations.
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“No one will be marching toward Jerusalem,” one official said.

Preparations are taking place along all of Israel’s fronts. The IDF announced Thursday night that Barak ordered West Bank crossings closed for a 24 hour period.

Protests are expected to break out in several Palestinian cities in the West Bank and at the Kalandiya crossing to Ramallah, north of Jerusalem. Officers from the Civil Administration were in touch this week with their Palestinian counterparts in an effort to contain the protests and prevent them from escalating.

Jerusalem police have raised the alert level in the capital, while Magen David Adom spokesman Zachi Heller said that ambulances and paramedics were also raising their alert level through the weekend, starting early Friday morning.

The Northern and Southern Commands have deployed extra forces along the borders with Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip together with riot gear to prevent border infiltrations.

In June, around 100 Syrians crossed into Israel on Nakba Day.

Friday marks the 36th anniversary of Land Day, when Israeli Arabs in the Galilee and Negev protest government policies they say infringe on their land rights.

Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and along Israel’s other borders traditionally rally in solidarity, but this year organizers are hoping to march to Jerusalem.

The general assessment in the IDF is that the protests will mostly be peaceful but there is concern that isolated acts of violence could quickly escalate and spread to the other protests.

Government officials said Israel was ready “for any eventuality.”

Thousands of police officers will fan out across Jerusalem, with an emphasis on the alleyways of the Old City and crossings into the West Bank including the Rachel checkpoint to Bethlehem, said Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby.

“It is not clear whether there will be problems,” one diplomatic official said. “The organizers are trying to play this up, and we do not want to play into their hands by giving them more publicity.”

The official said that Israel spoke directly with some of its neighbors – obviously Egypt and Jordan – and relayed the message through third parties to others that Israel expected that its borders would remain quiet.

The official said the march was being organized by fundamentalist Islamic extremists, some of whom were interested in violence, and that Israel was calling on the relevant parties in the Palestinian Authority and in neighboring states to “act in a responsible way.”

“We are not in a panic and this is not a crisis,” the official said. “We just have to be ready.”

Meanwhile, a website by pro- Palestinian activists calling for mass marches to Jerusalem went offline on Thursday.

There was no immediate claim from Israeli hackers of being behind the site’s disappearance.

www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=264093

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Global jihad on Jerusalem

With the backing of the mullahs in the East, the support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement in the West, and lots of press coverage everywhere, the “Global March to Jerusalem” kicks off Friday. As soon as all the “peace-loving” Muslims in the region emerge from their mosques following Friday morning prayers, there’s going to be a big protest against the Jews.

Scheduling it to coincide with Land Day -- one of many made-up modern Arab “holidays” the purpose of which is to rile up street mobs and foreign media outlets against the “Zionist entity” – is a way of giving it a veil of legitimacy (pun intended).

Declaring that Arab Christians should join their Muslim counterparts to protect their holy sites from the Jews is an attempt at diverting attention away from the ongoing persecution of Christians in Muslim societies.

What fun for Hamas and the PLO, who get to pretend that the parade to Israel’s borders from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt -- and the solidarity demonstrations in front of Israeli embassies elsewhere -- is a testament to how much the world worries about the plight of the “Palestinian people.”

But they know something that their Western backers don’t bother noting. They know that if it weren’t for the stupidity of some fellow travelers, the knee-jerk ideology of others, and a new legitimized anti-Semitism disguised as “criticism of Israeli policies,” their self-proclaimed nation would long ago have been forgotten or annihilated. Not by Israel, mind you. No, Israel isn’t into mass murder, in spite of what the radical Islamists who enjoy beheading men and circumcising women constantly claim. And it’s a pretty clever propaganda tactic on their part, since they actually respect barbaric practices, and believe their prophet, Muhammad, did too. But they read The New York Times, the Guardian and Haaretz just as carefully as their left-wing apologists in democratic countries do. You see, despite the myth that suicide terrorists and their dispatchers are the product of poverty and despondence, many of them are in fact graduates of MIT, Oxford and even the Hebrew University. Osama bin Laden may have lived in a few caves after 9/11, but he was plenty familiar with room service and wireless Internet.

The now totally impotent Palestinian Authority – on whose supposed behalf liberals’ hearts bleed to the point that they imagine it is different from Hamas – is fully aware that if it were up to its Arab-Muslim brethren, it would have died a stillbirth in 1967. Indeed, over the last 45 years, it has been utterly dismissed, financially abandoned and loathed by any and every Arab country in the region that actually has a Palestinian population to contend with. And though it is said that the Palestinians are the most educated group in the Middle East (other than Israelis), they are nevertheless considered by their “brothers” in the region to be the dregs of the earth.

That the Arab-Muslim world has used them as a tool for their own hegemonic aims is neither new nor surprising. After all, the Palestinian leadership – from Yasser Arafat to Mahmoud Abbas to Ismail Haniyeh – has itself always made cynical use of the very populace it purports to promote.

Not only has it kept people in squalor for decades in refugee camps as a PR ploy, but it has pocketed all the billions of dollars and euros and shekels that have been earmarked for institution-building and food. And what hasn’t been appropriated for personal use has been spent on arms.

Another thing that the PLO and Hamas know is that the “Arab Spring” has nothing to do with a widespread yearning for democracy in the Middle East, but rather with Islamic fervor fighting secular autocracy, on the one hand, and with angry Arabs wanting their own turn at torturing civilians who don’t follow their orders on the other. The last thing the Palestinian leaders want now is to be slaughtered (a la Moammar Gadhafi) by bloodthirsty revenge-seekers over whom they currently have control.

What could be better than killing several birds with one stone, and using Israel as the scapegoat? And what better issue could there be around which to unite than “affirming the Arab and Palestinian character of Jerusalem” and “against the Zionist policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and Judaization”?

Let us not kid ourselves about the motive of the march. It is not about land. It is not about a two-state solution. It is not about Jerusalem.

It is what all such campaigns have been since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. It is about what Arafat spelled out when he created the PLO in 1964 (three years before the Six-Day War). It is about what he and his successors continued to assert in Arabic.

It is about making the Middle East, and eventually the rest of the world, Judenrein, cleansed of Jews, which is why the Iranian regime is behind it every step of the way.

Ruthie Blum, a former senior editor at The Jerusalem Post, is the author of a book on the radicalization of the Middle East, to be released by RVP Press in the spring.

www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=1655

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If it was the other way around, the Palestinians would be using live ammunition, not just water cannons.

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