The case of Budrus has been celebrated, especially in the West, because of the villagers’ employment of non-violent protests and other actions. Expressing this view on non-violence, Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen writes: “Those of us who have watched Israel trying to control the West Bank have always wondered why the Palestinians have not tried passive resistance.” This view, unfortunately, is completely divorced from the reality of a four-decade-long coercive occupation of the West Bank, during which Palestinians have often used what Cohen calls “passive resistance.” In the first intifada, marches and strikes were met by beatings and bone breakings along with tear gas, rubber bullets, and live fire, as well as curfews, long-term school and university closures, and any number of other repressive responses. Israeli occupation forces killed hundreds of Palestinians and severely injured thousands. We see much of the same happening now in other West Bank villages in response to Palestinian non-violence. More here.