2011 Israeli border demonstrations
| 2011 Israeli border demonstrations | |||
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| Part of the Arab Spring | |||
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| Date | 15 May 2011 and 5 June 2011 | ||
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| Caused by |
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| Methods | Demonstrations | ||
| Status | Ended | ||
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| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | 12–40 | ||
| Injuries | 380-730+ | ||
The 2011 Israeli border demonstrations started on 15 May 2011, to commemorate what the Palestinians observe as Nakba Day. Various groups of people attempted to approach or breach Israel's borders from the Palestinian-controlled territory, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Jordan. At least a dozen people were killed when protesters attempted to cross the border from Syria.
On 5 June 2011, there were further protests on the border with Syria and, according to Syrian authorities, 23 protesters were killed and 350 wounded by live fire from Israeli forces, though Israeli sources suggested these figures were exaggerated. Israeli army spokesman Yoav Mordechai accused Syria of creating "a provocation" at the border to distract attention from the Syrian government's crackdown on the Syrian uprising.
Inspired by the uprisings and revolutions taking place in the Arab world, Palestinians used Facebook to call for mass protests throughout the region on 15 May 2011 Nakba Day. A page calling for a "Third Palestinian Intifada" to begin on 15 May was started on 9 March 2011, garnered more than 350,000 "likes" before being taken down by Facebook managers at the end of March after complaints from the Israeli government as well as a counter group which repeatedly requested Facebook to block the page on the grounds that it incited violence. The page called for mass marches to Israel and Palestinian Authority from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan to commemorate the Nakba and demand the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.
Organizers in Egypt had been preparing for weeks to implement the calls made on Facebook for a mass march to the border. On Saturday 14 May, thousands were planning to make their way toward the Rafah crossing with Gaza in convoys set to depart from Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Damietta, North Sinai, Gharbiya, Beni Suef, Assiut, Qena and Sohag. However, an order from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to tourism companies not to send buses to the convoy organizers left them without sufficient transportation and the few buses they did manage to procure were stopped by the army. The blockage of access by Egyptian forces to the Sinai Peninsula, meant that only about 80 activists managed to reach the border with Rafah.
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Wikipedia