ei: What does the word "Intifada" mean?

"Intifada" is an Arabic word derived from the root nafada, meaning "to shake".

As a verb intifada means "to be shaken, to wake up". As a noun it means "shudder, awakening, uprising", with the implication of "a shaking off" -- referring to the process of shaking off sleep or shaking off the dust from one's feet.

In the context of 37 years of Israeli military occupation (as of 2004), Intifada represents a 'shaking off' of the chains of occupation.

The word was first coined in 1987, to describe the first Palestinian uprising against Israeli military rule.

Indeed, the first Intifada was largely characterised by Palestinian disentanglement from the systems that administered the military occupation -- a very important "shaking off" -- and by community self-organisation.

The largely symbolic stone-throwing protests against occupying Israeli soldiers and the involvement of children in these protests resulted in the situation of Palestinians under Israeli occupation being brought before the eyes of the world via the international media.

In 2000, the word Intifada was again applied to the uprising following Ariel Sharon's visit to the Al-Haram Ash-Sharif in Jerusalem.

Sharon's visit to the third holiest site in Islam, guarded by -- according to the most conservative reports -- 1,000 armed Israeli soldiers, was overtly designed to demonstrate Israel's "sovereignty" over Jerusalem, especially over the Al-Haram Ash-Sharif (which most Israelis call "the Temple Mount") and provoke an angry response.

However, at a deeper level, the Palestinian protests reflected years of mounting Palestinian frustration, rage and despair over the failure of the "peace process" to address their basic human and national rights.

Police Minister Ben-Ami publicly approved of the Israeli army's shooting of Palestinian demonstrators following Sharon's visit, an excessive reaction that guaranteed the snowballing of massive demonstrations. Speaking at a press conference for foreign journalists on 1 October 2000 in Tel Aviv, Ben Ami commented:

"As I said before, we cannot give in to violence [...] We are not going to be intimidated by stones thrown at our civilians and at our security forces."

Later, making clear that Israel's sovereignty was being asserted by Sharon's visit, he stated:

"We are a sovereign government, and Jerusalem is our sovereign capital. This is something we need to make clear."

In the continuing strife since then, what has become abundantly clear is that the Palestinians do not agree and, despite heavy repression by Israel resulting in massive Palestinian deaths and injuries, the Second Palestinian Intifada has continued to the present day.