Israeli left-wing activists carry banners as they march during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, June 4, 2011. Thousands took part in a march in central Tel Aviv on Saturday evening supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty) — AP
By DANIELLA CHESLOW, Associated Press
June 4, 2011
MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights — Thousands of Israeli security forces mobilized for possible border unrest Sunday as Palestinians marked the anniversary of the Arab defeat in the 1967 Mideast war and Israel's occupation of Arab land.
Borders with Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were quiet in the early morning, and over the weekend, Palestinians in Syria and Lebanon canceled plans to march to their frontiers with Israel.
But Israel wasn't taking any chances after thousands of Arab protesters surged to Israel's borders with Syria, Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank last month on another key anniversary, Israel's 1948 creation. Hundreds breached a porous border fence at the time and entered a border village in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967.
Fifteen people died in border clashes with Israeli and possibly Lebanese security forces.
Since that May 15 confrontation, Israel has fortified its northern frontier with trenches and landmines.
The military wouldn't release troop deployment details Sunday. Soldiers stationed along the border fence said the northern Golan had been declared a closed military zone.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said thousands of officers were mobilized across the country in anticipation of possible disturbances, with an emphasis on the north and Jerusalem.
Israel also seized east Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan, and Gaza from Egypt, in the six-day war in 1967. Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
The Associated Press
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