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The Starting of the First Blessed Intifada against Zionism
Compiled by: Syed Muhammad Bokreta
Algiers, Algeria
The first Intifada declared on the 9th of December 1987 was a spontaneous explosion of popular resistance to the “Israeli” occupation, a resistance which had begun some fifty years before, the Palestinian people made a conscious and determined choice to consolidate their efforts to keep going the struggle toward freedom and independence, regardless of the cost.
So the first Intifada erupted in December 1987, although obviously a mass uprising against Israeli occupation, it was widely seen as a movement against Arafat and an increasingly out-of-touch leadership in exile. For the first time since the “Arab Revolt” of 1936-9, it showed the potential for mass civilian struggle against occupation and oppression.
The coordination of resistance activities through a body called The United Leadership of the Intifada, illustrated the depth and breadth of Palestinian aspirations for freedom. The force with which the Intifada began and continued for eight years stunned not only Israel , but indeed, all countries of the world.
It all started when on the 06th of December, 1987, an “Israeli” was allegedly stabbed to death while shopping in Gaza . One day later, four civilian residents of the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza were killed in a deliberate coordinated Zionist traffic accident, the four Martyrs were indeed killed by “Israelis” as a deliberate act of revenge for the stabbed Jew, as such started mass rioting which broke out in Jabalya on the morning of December 9, in which a 17-year-old youth was killed by an “Israeli” soldier after throwing a Molotov cocktail at an army patrol.
The Intifada, was a new invented terminological linguist from the rich Arabic dictionary which has its nearest equivalent in English as a “popular uprising” marked a new era in mass resistance in Palestine, signalling an end to years of passivity, although lacking the necessary arms to face the “Israeli”might, people in the occupied territories invented their own ways of fighting back, as many young men took to wearing masks and ambushing the “Israeli” army with a rain of stones.
This soon sparked a wave of unrest that engulfed the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem, over the next week, rock-throwing, blocked roads and tire burnings were reported throughout the territories; by December 12, six Palestinians had died and 30 had been injured in the violence, while in Gaza, rumours circulated that Palestinian youths wounded by “Israeli” soldiers were being taken to an army hospital near Tel Aviv and “finished off”, another rumour, claimed “Israeli” troops poisoned a water reservoir in Khan Yunis.
The intifada was violent from the start. During the first four years of the uprising, more than 3,600 Molotov cocktail attacks, 100 hand grenade attacks and 600 assaults with guns or explosives were reported by the “Israeli” Defence Forces. The violence was primarily directed at soldiers. During this period, 16 “ Israeli settlers” and 11 soldiers were killed by Palestinians in the territories; more than 1,400 “Israeli settlers” and 1,700 Israeli soldiers were injured.
One of the consequences of this first Intifada was the international conference in Madrid in 1991, no matter how frequently the negotiators met in Washington and elsewhere during this time, “ Israel ” refused to comply with the basic requirements for peace. United Nations resolutions 242 and 338 were suddenly not acceptable for “ Israel ”, not to mention Resolution 194, which calls for the right of refugees to return. The Madrid Conference served to divert the growing public awareness of “ Israel ” as an occupying power with a violent, oppressive, expansionist, colonialist, and racist character.
Two years later, the world was taken by surprise at the announcement of the Oslo Accords, signed in September 1993. While the world was sold a “peace myth”, the reality was something quite different. The primary aim of Oslo was to kill the Intifada and to ensure that
The Zionist state gained as many political benefits as possible while at the same time having an honourable exit from the Palestinian quagmire and transforming its identity into that of a peace-making country.
The Zionist state did not withdraw from the occupied territories, as it had been agreed upon at Oslo , Hebron was divided. More land was confiscated; Makdissiyines or Jerusalemites were forced to relinquish their residency rights, settlements increased at breakneck speed, which make the concept of Israeli withdrawal almost impossible (from an Israeli point of view, at least). Houses were demolished and trees were uprooted. Finally, Palestinian lands were torn into areas A, B, and C (not to mention the complete closure of Jerusalem ), creating easily- controllable and easily-suppressible Bantustans.
In the midst of all the confusion, most Palestinians were waiting patiently for Oslo to restore their national freedom, lost 33 years ago. They were waiting for Oslo to bring peace and prosperity. They were waiting to see how they could finally move freely within and outside the country. They were waiting for their prisoners to be freed. They were waiting for their own state where they could finally find peace and security. They were waiting for family Reunions which would unite families who had not been together in 50 years, unfortunately they have got nothing from the Oslo ill -fated illusory mirage promises.
However, and instead of prosperity, the economic situation deteriorated to a level worse than in 1987, Palestinian lands were torn apart, in Hebron, for example, 400 Jewish settlers were given free reign to control and terrorize the lives of 120,000 Palestinian people (with the aid of the “Israeli” army); the Palestinian people were subjected to a charade of evil and deceit.
In addition, the Palestinian leadership, impotent and powerless in the face of “Israeli” aggression, agreed to seemingly unlimited concessions to “Israeli” demands, until there was no more to give, and instead of setting the stage for Palestinians to move toward freedom and independence, Oslo was dragging them toward fragmentation and surrender.
Negotiations with the “Israelis” were starting to address the four points that had been postponed seven years earlier, namely: Jerusalem, the settlements, the Refugees, and the establishment of a state, not only is “Israel” unwilling to give back occupied East Jerusalem and to stop its settlement activities, it is rather unable even to recognize its moral and historic responsibility for the catastrophe of the Palestinians people.
As such and in view of the all out stubbornness of “Israel”regarding any compromise towards the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, it is very obvious that the Brave Muslim Palestinians are left with no alternative but to earnestly continue the arm struggle as it is the only “Language” which is duly understood by the Zionists, the Victory of the Brave Hizbollah Knights in May 2000 and in August 2006 as well as the Gaza withdrawal in September 2005 and the late November 2012 Fadjr missiles towards zionist cities are but the exciting rewards for such struggle.
Of course through the past 1987 Intifada and the ongoing Honourable struggle in the form of all Palestinian Armed brigades mostly Hamas & Islamic Djihad fighting on behalf of the whole Ummah, the Palestinians have really paid a heavy price in life and property, and by it they have won significant moral and political victories, to their humble credit , they have achieved what was in the past beyond any reach, the demolition of the myth of “Israel” as a victim; in fact, the intifada has shown that “Israel” is the real aggressor and outlaw.
To the sole and unique exception of the US , there are very few places in the world where anybody believes Zionist propaganda any more, the fact that the Palestinians have not been cowed, despite “ Israel ”’s massive superiority in weapons and its sophisticated propaganda machine, is itself a victory for the Palestinians. The intifada has also demoralized the occupiers of Palestine . The talk of population transfers, a euphemism for “ethnic cleansing” is reflective of the Zionists’ desperation and a hint of their inevitable defeat.
Truly speaking the Ummah is getting its strength and awe- inspiring faith from seeing those young brave Palestinians‘ s resistance to the inhumane and brutal Zionist occupation which is surely Incha ‘Allah doomed to failure and to the dust bin of History.
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