Intifada: Zionism Imperialism and Palestinian Resistance

WHEN THE INTIFADA began in December 1987 it won the support of millions worldwide. For all who identified with the struggle against imperialism this new mass movement of Palestinians under Israeli occupation was a confirmation that economic and military domination do not guarantee political control; that wealth and power are not enough to destroy the collective will to resist. After 70 years of confronting Zionism and its supporters in the West the Palestinians had raised their struggle to a new level. Israel was thrown onto the defensive, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) received unprecedented backing, and the declaration of a Palestinian state in territory still occupied by Israel was hailed by scores of countries. Among Palestinians scattered across the world there was talk that their dream of al-awda—the return from exile—was to become a reality. Many Palestinians were certain that an independent Palestinian state would now be established. They argued that it would be a state born of struggle, for the might of Israel’s military machine had not stopped the strikes and demonstrations of the intifada. Despite Israel’s policy of repression—the beatings, shootings, mass arrests and deportations, an ‘iron fist’ to crush the Uprising—the people of the West Bank and Gaza had not been cowed. According to such a view the ‘revolution of stones’ had finally turned the tables on Israel. But an independent Palestinian state remains an aspiration.