First Intifada

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First Intifada
Part of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Media coverage of the first Intifada (1987-1992) often focused on young Palestinians throwing stones at tanks and Israeli soldiers.
Date 1987-1993
Location West Bank, Gaza Strip, Israel
Result Oslo Accords
Belligerents
Flag of Israel Israel Unified National Leadership of the Uprising[citation needed]
Commanders
Flag of IsraelYitzhak Shamir Yasser Arafat
Casualties and losses
160 1,100 by Israelis
1,000 by Palestinians
v • d • e
Arab-Israeli conflict

The First Intifada (1987 - 1993) (also "intifada" and "war of the stones") was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule[1] that began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.[2]

Palestinian actions ranged from civil disobedience to violence. In addition to general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti, and barricades, Palestinian demonstrations that included stone-throwing by youths against the heavily-armed Israeli Defense Forces brought the intifada international attention.[3] Intra-Palestinian violence was also a prominent feature of the Intifada, with widespread executions of alleged Israeli collaborators contributing almost half of the death toll among Palestinians.

Over the course of the first intifada, an estimated 1,100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and 160 Israelis were killed by Palestinians. In addition, an estimated 1,000 Palestinians were assassinated by their own people as alleged collaborators, although fewer than half had any proven contact with the Israeli authorities.[4]

Contents

[edit] General causes

[edit] Background

After Israel's capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip from Egypt and Jordan in the wake of the Six-Day War in 1967, a growing sense of frustration among Palestinians living in the occupied territories had developed. The First Intifada came at a time when Palestinians were protesting acts taken by Israel that they perceived as brutal, including extra-judicial killings, mass detentions, and house demolitions. According to Donald Neff, "The immediate cause of the First Intifada came on Dec. 8, when an Israeli army truck ran into a group of Palestinians from Jabalya village in Gaza Strip, killing four and injuring seven." [5] There was not much progress being made in finding a durable solution for their sufferings. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) did not bring about solutions to alleviate Palestinian suffering and in 1982, the organization was forced to relocate their offices to Tunis.[6] Although all Arab states with the exception of Egypt maintained an official state of war with Israel, the Arab summit in Amman in November 1987 focused on the Iran-Iraq War, and the Palestinian issue was shunted to the sidelines for the first time in years.[7] Israeli military occupation of Southern Lebanon and the continued Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip contributed to growing discontent with the status quo.

[edit] Catalysts

Palestinians and their supporters assert that the Intifada was a protest of Israel's 'brutal repression' which included extra-judicial killings, mass detentions, house demolitions, deportations, and so on.[8] While relatively few houses were demolished in the years before the Intifada, house demolitions "appeared to have deterrent value" to Israel. After the start of the Intifada, and after the PLO began compensating affected families, demolitions "were transformed into a stimulus to further escalation of resistance."[9] In addition to the political and national sentiment, further causes to the Intifada can be seen in the Egyptian withdrawal from their claims to the Gaza Strip as well as the Jordanian monarchy growing weary of supporting its claims to the West Bank.In 1990 21 Israeli soldiers confessed to frequent repeated brutal assaults against Palestinians. Yishai-Karin reported that Israeli soldiers were exposed to violence against Palestinians during the first weeks of training. The soldiers also expressed feelings of joy when they were given power to install fear and physical violence unto the Palestinians. One soldier recalls shooting an unarmed Palestinian for no reason, "We were in a weapons carrier when this guy, around 25, passed by in the street and, just like that, for no reason-he didn't throw a stone did nothing -bang, a bullet in the stomach, he shot him in the stomach and the guy is dying on the pavement and we keep going, apathetic. No one gave him a second look,' he said. [10]

High birth rates and the limited allocation of land for new building and agriculture contributed to the increasing density of population in the Palestinian territories and a rise in unemployment. While income from manual labor in Israel was beneficial to the Palestinian economy, jobs were growing scarcer, even for those with university degrees. In fact, at the time of the intifada, only one in eight college-educated Palestinians could find degree-related work. [11]

One incident that was often mentioned as a catalyst was the "Night of the Gliders", or the "Kibia action", in which a Palestinian guerrilla infiltrated an IDF army camp from Lebanon and managed to kill six soldiers.[12][13][14]

[edit] Leadership

The Palestinians felt abandoned by their Arab allies and the PLO had failed to successfully challenge Israel and establish a Palestinian state in its stead, as promised, despite thwarting Israeli attempts to organize puppet elections in the territories. Many Palestinians were bitter at the thought of spending the rest of their lives as second-class citizens, without full political rights.[citation needed]

The Intifada was not initiated by any single individual or organization, but the PLO soon established itself at the forefront, sponsoring provocateurs and enhancing their presence in the territories. The PLO's rivals in this activity were the Islamic terrorist organizations, Hamas and Islamic Jihad as well as local leadership in cities such as Beit Sahour and Bethlehem. However, the uprising was predominantly led by community councils led by Hanan Ashrawi, Faisal Husseini and Haidar Abdel-Shafi, that promoted independent networks for education, medical care and food aid.

[edit] The uprising

A Intifada poster from 1990, depicting an Israeli military boot stepping onto a map of the Palestinian territories which have spikes sticking out. It is intended to represent the Palestinian view of Israeli military occupation (boot) against Palestinian resistance (spikes)
A Intifada poster from 1990, depicting an Israeli military boot stepping onto a map of the Palestinian territories which have spikes sticking out. It is intended to represent the Palestinian view of Israeli military occupation (boot) against Palestinian resistance (spikes)

After the traffic incident at the Erez Crossing that killed four Palestinian refugees, rumor quickly spread that the wreck was deliberate and an act of vengeance in response to the Israeli stabbed to death several days earlier in the Gaza market.[citation needed] That evening, an uprising began in Jabalia where hundreds of Palestinians burned tires and attacked the IDF troops stationed there. The uprising spread to other Palestinian refugee camps and eventually to several major cities. On December 22, the United Nations Security Council condemned Israel in Resolution 605 for violating the Geneva Conventions due to the number of Palestinian deaths in these first few weeks of the Intifada.[15]

The IDF was given truncheons and encouraged to break the bones of Palestinian protestors.[16] This aggressive stance was expressed by Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin during his tour of the Jalazon Refugee Camp in January 1988, when he stated "The first priority of the security forces is to prevent violent demonstrations with force, power and blows ... We will make it clear who is running the territories".[2] The Swedish branch of Save the Children estimated that, "23,600 to 29,900 children required medical treatment for their beating injuries in the first two years of the intifada", one third of whom were children under the age of ten years old.[16]

On April 19, 1988, a leader of the PLO, Abu Jihad, was assassinated in Tunis. During the resurgence of rioting that followed, about 16 Palestinians were killed. In November of the same year and October of the next, the United Nations General Assembly passed resolutions condemning Israel[17]

In 1989, local committees in Beit Sahour initiated a nonviolence movement to withhold taxes, taking up the slogan "No Taxation without Representation"[18]. - the legality of which under international law is disputed. When time in prison did not stop the activists, Israel crushed the boycott by imposing heavy fines while seizing and disposing the equipment, furnishings, and goods from local stores, factories, and homes.[17]

As the Intifada progressed, Israel introduced various riot control methods that had the effect of reducing the number of Palestinian fatalities.[citation needed] Moshe Arens subsequently proved to have a better understanding of pacification, which perhaps reflects in the lower casualty rates for the following years.[citation needed] In July 1989, the first suicide attack occurred inside Israel's borders: the Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405 massacre.[citation needed] Suicide bombings by Palestinian militants started in April 16, 1993 with the Mehola Junction bombing, carried out towards the end of the intifada.[19]

By June 1990, according to Benny Morris, "[...] the Intifada seemed to have lost direction. A symptom of the PLO's frustration was the great increase in the killing of suspected collaborators; in 1991 the Israelis killed more Palestinians - about 100 - about 150."[20] Attempts at the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were made at the Madrid Conference of 1991.

[edit] Outcome

Over the course of the first intifada, an estimated 1,100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and 160 Israelis were killed by Palestinians. In addition, an estimated 1,000 Palestinians were assassinated by their own people as alleged collaborators, although fewer than half had any proven contact with the Israeli authorities.[4]

The intifada was not a military endeavor in either a conventional or guerrilla sense. The PLO (which had limited control of the situation) never expected the uprising to make any direct gains against the Israeli state, as it was a grassroots, mass movement and not their venture. However, the Intifada did produce a number of results the Palestinians considered positive:

  1. By engaging the Israelis directly, rather than relying on the authority or the assistance of neighboring Arab states, the Palestinians were able to globally cement their identity as a separate nation worthy of self-determination.[citation needed] The era marked the end of the Israeli discussion of a "Jordanian solution" to merge the Palestinian territories with Jordan.
  2. The harsh Israeli countermeasures (particularly during the earlier years of the Intifada) resulted in international attention returning to the plight of the Palestinians, as prisoners in their own land. The fact that 159 Palestinian children below the age of 16 were killed(many of them shot while throwing stones at IDF soldiers) was especially alarming for international observers. Significantly, numerous American media outlets openly criticized Israel in a way that they had not previously.[citation needed] The conflict succeeded in putting the Palestinian question back on the international agenda, particularly in the United Nations, but also for the European Union and the United States as well as the Arab states - which during the 1980s were concentrated on the Iran-Iraq War. Europe became an important economic contributor towards the nascent Palestinian Authority, and American aid and support of Israel became - at least in appearance - more conditional than it was previously.
  3. The Intifada also dealt a heavy economic blow to Israel. The Bank of Israel estimated it cost the country $650 million in lost exports, largely through successful Palestinian boycotts and the creation of local micro industries.[citation needed] The impact on the services sector, including the important Israeli tourist industry, was notably bad.
  4. The uprising can be linked to the Madrid Conference of 1991, and thereby to the return of the Palestinian Liberation Organization from their Tunisian exile. Although the negotiations failed to fulfill their potential, it is notable that prior to the first Intifada, it was doubtful whether there would ever be a Palestinian state.[citation needed] After the Oslo accords, somewhat of an independent Palestinian entity - at sometime - in the future seemed relatively certain.[citation needed]

Ultimately, Israel was successful in containing the uprising. However, the Intifada pinpointed numerous problems with the IDF's conduct in the operative and tactical fields, as well as the general problem of Israel's prolonged control of the West Bank and Gaza strip. These problems were noticed and widely criticized, both in international forums (in particular, when humanitarian questions were at stake), but also in Israeli public opinion, in which the Intifada had caused a split.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "uprising by Palestinians against Israeli rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip territories." Intifada, Microsoft Encarta.
  2. ^ a b The Intifada - An Overview: The First Two Years
  3. ^ BBC: A History of Conflict
  4. ^ a b Collaborators, One Year Al-Aqsa Intifada, The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, October 2001. Accessed May 15, 2007.
  5. ^ [1] [2]
  6. ^ Al-Aqsa Intifada - Wael Imad el Nasheat
  7. ^ Aryeh Shalev (1991). The Intifada: Causes and Effects. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Post & Westview Press, 33. ISBN 0-8133-8303. 
  8. ^ Ackerman, P and Duvall, A: "A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict", page 403. St. Martin's Press,2000
  9. ^ Aryeh Shalev (1991). The Intifada: Causes and Effects. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Post & Westview Press, 111-114. ISBN 0-8133-8303. 
  10. ^ Israel shaken by troops' tales of brutality against Palestinians | World news | The Observer
  11. ^ Ackerman, P and Duvall, A: "A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict", page 401. St. Martin's Pres, 2000
  12. ^ Neff, Donald. "The Intifada Erupts, Forcing Israel to Recognize Palestinians". Washington Report on Middle East Affairs December 1997: 81-83. 
  13. ^ Oren, Amir. "Secrets of the Ya-Ya brotherhood", Haaretz, 2006-10-18. Retrieved on 2008-05-13. 
  14. ^ Shai, Shaul (2005). The Axis of Evil: Iran, Hizballah, and the Palestinian Terror. Transaction Publishers, p. 74. ISBN 0765802554. 
  15. ^ Security Council Resolutions 1987. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  16. ^ a b Eugene R. Wittkopf and James M. McCormick (2007). The Domestic Sources of American Foreign Policy: Insights and Evidence. Rowan & Littlefield, 86. ISBN 074254740X. 
  17. ^ a b Aburish, Said K. (1998). Arafat: From Defender to Dictator. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing pp.201-228 ISBN 1-58234-049-8
  18. ^ Welcome To Beit Sahour Official Website. Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  19. ^ Jeffrey Ivan Victoroff (2006). Tangled Roots: Social and Psychological Factors in the Genesis of Terrorism. IOS Press, 204. ISBN 158603670X. 
  20. ^ Benny Morris, Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999, Knopf, 1999. p.612

[edit] Further reading

  • Eitan Alimi (2006). Israeli Politics and the First Palestinian Intifada. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415385601. 
  • Geoffrey Aronson (1990). Israel, Palestinians, and the Intifada: Creating Facts on the West Bank. London: Kegan Paul International. ISBN 0-7103-0336-X. 
  • Joel Beinin; Zachary Lockman (1989). Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Occupation. Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-363-2. 
  • Joost R. Hiltermann (1991). Behind the Intifada: Labor and Women's Movements in the Occupied Territories. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-07869-6. 
  • Mary Elizabeth King (2007). A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance. New York: Nation Books. ISBN 1560258020. 
  • Benny Morris (1999). Righteous Victims: a History of the Zionist-Arab conflict, 1881-1999. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-679-74475-4. 
  • Don Peretz (1990). Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-0860-7. 
  • Andrew Rigby (1991). Living the Intifada. London: Zed Books. ISBN 1-85649-040-8. 
  • Aryeh Shalev (1991). The Intifada: Causes and Effects. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Post & Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-8303-X. 
  • Ze'ev Schiff, Ehud Ya'ari (1989). Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising: Israel's Third Front. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-67530-3. 

[edit] External links