thank you for bringing that up.
this was a way for syria to deflect from its murder of its own people... and also to challenge israeli sovereignty.... something that can't be allowed b/c to allow it is a sign of weakness to arab governments.
If you visit the Al Jazzera web site and see their version of the events, you will note that the Syrian government bussed several loads of folks in to a controlled military zone.
What seems to have happened is that the Syrians, in an effort to deflect serious internal problems, bussed large numbers of folks into the area to stage a protest. And then lost control of them.
If you see the size of the mob, you will be a bit more sympathetic to the position of the Israeli soldier.
And the Israelis did warn the folks tossing the rocks and advancing on the border to stop.
At the same time, I don't see the Israeli public opinion being as relaxed as the majority of the US public opinion.
On the Syrian side, the Syrian secret police will dance for joy of the nifty provision of corpses, wich they will use to make Israel the enemy, instead of the Syrian police state.