Support On Facebook For Palestinian uprising

Tens of thousands of Palestinians on Facebook want a third intifada.

“Third Palestinian Intifada” had over 80,000 supporters Friday, nearly twice as many as the day before. The page was established Sunday.

“After the Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan intifadas, it’s time for the Palestinian intifada,” the page says. “It’s time to free Palestine.”

Intifada, or uprising, literally means “to shake off” in Arabic. Palestinians have launched two intifadas in the past three decades, the first in 1987. The second, and far-deadlier, uprising began in 2000.

President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed that areas under his control will not return to armed resistance while he is in power. The Palestinian Authority has discouraged demonstrations, as it busies itself assembling international support for statehood. A strong of countries have recognized Palestine in recent months.

But that has not been enough for the anonymous founders of the Facebook page, or the leaders of the March 15 movement, whose members hope to restore political unity to the Palestinian territories.

Israel’s army, meanwhile, is closely monitoring the recent events in Arab states and adjusting plans to combat large demonstrations in light of the popular revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, reports say.

The central command and “Judea and Samaria” division are also altering protocol to act judiciously against thousands of nonviolent protesters, according to a report in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Military officials have emphasized that they will make no effort to prevent large demonstrations, even of thousands of civilians, as long as they do not try to enter settlements, Haaretz reported.