Intifada

Name given to two separate Palestinian uprisings against Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Both intifadas represent periods of escalating violence in a vicious cycle of reciprocal aggression in the two territories, which have been occupied by Israel since 1967.

The first intifada (an Arabic term that means “shaking off”) lasted from 1987 to 1993 and catapulted the Palestinian–Israeli conflict to the forefront of global affairs. Both Israelis and Palestinians incurred heavy losses in human lives, economic opportunities, and international image during this period.

That first uprising officially ended with the September 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords, which reaffirmed Israel's right to exist and established the Palestinian Authority (PA). The PA is a semiautonomous Palestinian body that controls Palestinian cities both in terms of security and the management of domestic affairs. The Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized as the institutional representative of the Palestinian people, and it is perceived as the basis for a future independent Palestinian government.

The second intifada started in September 2000 and was still underway in 2004, with both sides engaged in a seemingly unrelenting spiral of violence. In late 2004 and early 2005, conditions improved, and it appeared as though the second intifada might be ending, as well, because Israel and the Palestinians embarked on a new round of talks to try to resolve the problems between them.

The First Intifada (1987–1993)

Against a background of sporadic acts of aggression on both sides, the killing of four Palestinians by an Israeli army truck on December 8, 1987, provoked an immense uproar in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip (north of Gaza City). The Israelis argued that the collision was an accident, but the Palestinians suspected an intentional action meant to avenge an earlier stabbing of a Jewish salesman by a Palestinian.

[Page 375]Within one day, both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank became battlefields, with hundreds of young Palestinians clashing with Israeli soldiers. In addition to street combat, large sections of the Palestinian population in the two territories engaged in civil disobedience, refusing to pay taxes and staging general strikes and economic boycotts. These actions were eclipsed, however, by much-televised images of Palestinian boys throwing rocks and petrol bottles at Israeli tanks and soldiers, images that considerably affected the international perception of the conflict.

The first intifada ended in 1993, after six years of intense street fights and clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians. On September 13, 1993, the Israeli government and the Palestinians' political representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), signed the Oslo Accords, effectively ending the intifada.

The accords were the result of lengthy negotiations between PLO leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, negotiations initiated through the efforts of the Norwegian government. The Oslo agreements divided the West Bank and the Gaza Strip into three zones: a first zone that was to come under complete Palestinian control (civil and military), a second zone that was to be controlled domestically by the Palestinians and militarily by the Israelis, and a third zone that was to remain under full Israeli control.

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