"The pastoral period is over!"

"... But unlike the May 15 protests, on Sunday there were demonstrations only along the frontier with Syria. 'The pastoral period is over. The Golan Heights have stopped being Israel's quietest front,' analyst Alex Fishman said Monday.

The protestors insist they are standing up for their rights, ...  Israel predictably sees things differently. Israel believes that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is behind the demonstrations ...  Whether the attempts to point the finger directly at Assad are justified or not, there is no doubt the Assad regime did nothing to prevent the protests. This was in contrast to the Lebanese government, which declared its border area with Israel a closed military area and prevented demonstrators from reaching the frontier. Assad may also have been attempting to deflect criticism that his regime was shooting demonstrators, rather than 'liberating the Golan.'...  Israel's fear is that the protests - non-violent demonstrations along Israel's frontiers - could mark a new tactic in the Palestinians' fight against Israel's occupation. This could intensify as September, when Palestinians plan on asking the UN to ratify a Palestinian state, approaches. 'The war over the fences ... can be expected to intensify in the coming months,' analyst Yoav Limor noted. And if there are casualties on a regular basis, Israel's international legitimacy will be further eroded."