ABSTRACT
In the latter part of the year 2000 hopes for a breakthrough in relations between Israel and the Palestinians came to a frustrating end. The discussions between the two at Camp David had not borne fruit; opposition leader Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount (al-Haram) provoked mass demonstrations in both Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Territories and then a sharp Israeli response that cost the lives of many Palestinians; the subsequent talks in Taba, held in January 2001, when the violence had already reached new heights, did not result in any agreement at all. The Palestinian organizations, those affiliated with the opposition as well as to the PA, opted for an escalation of events, as did the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which responded with great force, thereby fueling a desire for revenge on the part of the Palestinians. The al-Aqsa Intifada, in which Israelis and Palestinians met for the first time since 1948 in large-scale armed struggle, was under way.
