Thousands of Palestinians defied the Israeli army's around-the-clock curfew Monday for the second straight day, and took to the streets of Nablus as shops and banks opened to accommodate them. The army, which has imposed the curfew in most West Bank cities and towns for the past 40 days, remained in armored vehicles ringing the city. But troops did not enter Nablus and made no moves to drive residents off the streets and back into their homes. At the edge of the city, the troops allowed trucks with supplies to enter, but blocked passenger cars. Some Palestinians said troops were firing in the air over cars to turn away those approaching the city limits.
That's the sort of gesture of defiance the IDF has to worry about. They can't arrest everybody. Most of the inhabitants aren't crazed killers — but under cover of the rest, the crazed killers will come out and start resuming operations. At that point the IDF will have to "drive residents off the streets." Either that, or they'll have to find an alternative to the curfews. I hope one pops into their minds, because mine's blank... |