The 3rd Intifada: Is this the tipping point?

The 3rd intifada has been promised and it seems to be right on schedule. First to the news:

Palestinians: Prepare for 3rd intifada

The Palestinians are preparing for "Nakba Day" – text messages were sent to tens of thousands of cellular subscribers in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, calling them to take part in the events marking the Palestinian day of mourning over Israel's inception and to ignite a third Intifada.

The main concern is that local protests will prompt violent clashes and mass rioting. As part of security measures ahead of Sunday the police announced that it will restrict the entrance to Temple Mount on Friday to male worshippers over the age of 45, carrying Israeli IDs.

Palestinians continued their preparations ahead of "Nakba Day," set for Sunday. On Friday, Palestinians will mark "the calling to the flag day" – a prequel event to "Nakba Day."

Processions will take place throughout the West Bank, leaving from numerous mosques after Friday's prayers are concluded.

Processions are also set to be held in Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tulkarem and Qalqilya. Another procession is slated to leave from al-Aqsa Mosque.

Also on Thursday, the organizers of the third intifada initiative in the West Bank and the "return procession" in the Gaza Strip published flyers detailing the guidelines and goals of Sunday's events.

The flyers explained that the aim of the processions is "to demand our natural right to return to our land and implement UN resolutions."

It appears to have already started:

Riots in Jerusalem, West Bank ahead of Nakba Day

Riots broke out in east Jerusalem and across the West Bank Friday ahead of Nakba Day, but fears of large-scale violence did not materialize.

IDF forces dispersed dozens of Palestinians, foreign nationals and Israeli leftist activists who hurled stoned near the Palestinian village of Nabi Salah, east of Ramallah. Leftist protestors said more than 10 people were hurt in the clashes.

In Silwan, protestors clashed with security forces who entered the neighborhood. Arabs hurled stones while police officers responded with crowd dispersal means. Three men were arrested on suspicion of hurling stones in Bab al-Huta, while Border Guard and police forces arrested a protestor in At-Tur

Friday's clashes: Police hurt, Arab teen shot

Two Border Guard police officers sustained light wounds after stones were hurled at them at the Kalandia crossing point near Jerusalem Friday.

Another police officer was also hurt in Arab violence, as riots spread across Jerusalem and the West Bank Friday as Palestinians prepare to mark 'Nakba Day' Sunday on the occasion of Israel's establishment.

Meanwhile, leftist activists reported that at least 25 people were hurt in a protest near Nabi Salah, in the Ramallah region. Security forces dispersed dozens of Palestinians, foreign nationals and Israeli left-wing activists who were hurling stones at the site, the army said.

Elsewhere, some 40 Palestinians gathered near the village of Anata, southeast of Ramallah, and hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at a nearby road. Earlier in the day, police forces clashed with young Arab protesting and rioting at various sites in east Jerusalem.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions rise in Jerusalem, West Bank as Nakba Day nears

Israel Defense Force soldiers and Palestinians clashed on Friday throughout the West Bank, days before planned demonstrations to commemorate the Nakba.

Mild clashes between the IDF and Palestinians erupted in Jerusalem on Friday morning, in Silwan, Isawiya and in the Old City. Israel police forces have arrested 11 protesters.

Palestinians in Lebanon plan to march and bus in from several locations in Lebanon toward the border with Israel on Sunday. Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees will converge in Maroun al-Ras, a village in southern Lebanon that was a major point of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon War.

A parallel demonstration will also be taking place on the Israel side of the Lebanon border in Avivim, a source told Haaretz, where demonstrations will be staged concurrently with the rally planned in Maroun al-Ras.

Meanwhile, we see the vice that surrounds Israel continue to tighten:

Muslim contender for Egyptian presidency designed for US approval

Notwithstanding the official Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's promise not to seek the presidency or any other positions of power, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, 60, member of the MB's Shura Council and head of the Egyptian Doctors' Union, has announced he would run for president in Egypt's coming election.

He claimed he would be running as an "independent," but no one doubts whom he represents.
April 29, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 490 revealed that Fotouh was MB's presidential candidate, the first publication to do so.

DEBKAfile's sources report that Fotouh's decision to stand for election has persuaded Egypt's military rulers to back off from running one of their own or a secular contender against him.

This is huge news. Don't forget that initially after the uprisings, the Muslim Brotherhood was stating that they would stay out of the elections. Then we read where they had officially formed a party, and intend to not only run for various parliament seats, but intended to gain a majority of such. At the time, they stated that they would, however, remain out of the presidential elections, and now we see, with this announcement, that the opposite is true.

We've certainly seen a big change from the beginning of the uprisings - but many prophecy watchers suspected that the Muslim Brotherhood would indeed make a quest for political power in Egypt and indeed they are on the verge of doing just that. Now, with the announcement of Fotouh's candidacy , a clear representative of the Muslim Brotherhood - we are seeing exactly what we predicted in the beginning - a takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood/radical Islam.

Additionally, and possibly more importantly, we also see where the Egyptian military rulers, as a result, will not run their own candidate, virtually assuring the Muslim Brotherhood of a victory.

The Muslim Brotherhood was encouraged in its power bid by the March 19 referendum on constitutional changes held after Hosni Mubarak's fall. More than 14 million Egyptians, 77 percent of its participants, favored the Brotherhood's demand for changes against only 4 million (23 percent) who did not.

And this:

Jordanians and Egyptians take to streets for pro-Palestinian protests

Jordanians and Egyptians took to the streets Friday calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state and an end to the displacement of refugees.

The protests took place just two days before the Nakba Day, when Palestinians mourn the 'catastrophe' in which their ancestors were expelled in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, creating thousands of refugees.

About 500 protesters marched in Amman's downtown market district, some wearing Palestinian black and white kefiyahs or headscarves and holding keys to family homes left behind.

Jordanians and demonstrators of Palestinian origin also demanded that the Israeli ambassador be sent home.

In Cairo, thousands rallied in support of the Palestinians, beginning a Facebook-generated campaign aimed at marching on the borders of the Palestinian territories.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are not unusual in Jordan or Egypt, but gatherings and marches solicited on Facebook are. Organizers have apparently been inspired by the Arab uprisings in Egypt and other Arab countries that were heavily dependent on social network sites.

The next few days should be very interesting as we approach the 15th - which is the official start of the 3rd Intifada. There is no telling where this could lead - we are always on the look-out for potential tipping points. Stay tuned - we'll be following this story closely.