ABSTRACT
The outbreak of the Palestinian uprising on 9 December 1987 both challenged and changed perceptions internally and externally of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The term that the Palestinians applied to this event was Intifada – meaning to shake-off – in this case primarily the Israeli occupation. The occupation was rocked to its foundations, the prospects for a peaceful resolution to the conflict increased and the ways in which the world viewed and understood the
• Insurrection 143 • Palestinian political goals 145 • An Arab ‘shaking off’? 147 • Israel responds 148 • The strategy for change 150 • Consolidation and political progress 152 • Actions speak louder than words: getting to the second Intifada 153 • The al-Aqsa armed Intifada 154 • Operation Defensive Shield: unequivocal victory? 157 • Further reading 160
conflict changed. While Israel had once enjoyed an enduring status as a David against the Goliath of Arab hostility during the first Intifada, Palestinians with their slingshots and stones thrown against the armour of Israel’s military forces inverted the analogy.
