As the Palestinian/Israeli conflict continues to be of major importance in the Middle East, this book employs a new agency approach to understanding the conflict, examining the unprecedented challenge mounted by Palestinian insurgents to Israeli military rule in the West Bank and Gaza between 1987 and 1992. In particular the book discusses how the Palestinians learned about their occupier and how knowledge of Israeli political divisions were used, as well as exploring the various ways in which oppression led to shared grievances and discontent, and the development of organizations to maintain the Intifada.

It has received an award by the Israeli Political Science Association for the best book on Israeli politics in English.