On December 8, 1987, four Palestinian workers were martyred after an Israeli truck driver had run them over in north the Gaza Strip. That crime sparked the Palestinian popular revolution which spread in the villages and cities, and was later called ‘Al-Hijara Intifada’ (the Intifada of Stones). This report briefly cites a few of its incidents.
The Name ‘Intifada’:
The first statement that was distributed during the Intifada was Hamas’. The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) issued its first statement on December 11, 1987; in which it gave the revolution the name ‘Intifada’. The statement went, “The Intifada of our steadfast people in the occupied land has erupted to reject the occupation and its pressure, and to awaken the conscious of the pursuers of false peace and useless international conferences”.
Characteristics of the Intifada:
The First Intifada was the first contemporary revolution after 1967 defeat. The Palestinians showed the world how stones can stand up to tanks, and palms to drills.
This Intifada is characterized by the people’s use of simple tools. The main thing the Palestinians used was ‘stones’, which were found in all streets. Then, the youngsters of the Intifada learned how to make Molotov Cocktails, and started using knives and carrying out stabbing operations – moving bravely at the heavily-armed soldiers. Later, the resistance fighters managed to access automatic firearms, which made a huge difference.
Economically, the Palestinian people boycotted the Israeli products, stopped working inside the occupied lands of 1948, and stopped paying the occupation’s expensive taxes.
The people were key to the Intifada. Men, women, youngsters and children worked together side-by-side. The women formed popular committees offering educational and medical services to the community, and participated in the events. It was not strange to see women, of all ages, throwing stones at the occupation’s soldiers.
The Palestinians used graffiti and statements as media outlets and tools. The fighters would use them to communicate the instructions of the leadership or the achievements of the fighters against the occupation’s soldiers. Such work used to enrage the soldiers who would arrest the passersby and threaten them with firearm to clean the walls.
Aims:
The most important aims of the Intifada are:
- Establishing an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital.
- Ending the occupation.
- Having the refugees return to the homes they were displaced from.
- Freeing the prisoners.
The Israeli Oppression:
Breaking the people’s bones was one of the occupation’s policies in the Intifada. Yitzhak Rabin, the occupation’s Minister of War at the time, was the one to announce the use of such policy against the activists in the Intifada. One of the unforgettable scenes was when the occupation’s soldiers broke the arms of two Palestinians in Nablus using stones in 1988; which resulted in the further eruption of the Intifada and increase of international solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The Israeli army also doubled the arrest campaigns. According to Riyadh Al-Ashqar, researcher and Director of Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies, 210 arrests were documented from the beginning of the Intifada until mid-1994. In order to have room for such large numbers, the occupation opened new prisons and detention centers - Ktzi'ot prison in 1988 being the most prominent of which.
In addition, the heavily-armed soldiers intentionally used excessive force against youngsters who were only carrying stones. Therefore, a huge number of Palestinians were either martyred or wounded in unequal confrontations.
Results of the Intifada:
This Intifada reinforced the confidence of the Palestinian people, took the action back to the occupied lands, revived the Palestinian cause, increased the international solidarity with the Palestinian people, exposed the terrorism of the occupation to the world, and exposed the unjustified oppression of civilians.
After 6 years of its start, the Israeli occupation realized that the military option was not the solution. It turned to the political lie of giving the Palestinian people their rights. The PLO and the occupation signed the Oslo Accords in 1993; then the PLO took over Gaza and the West Bank in 1994 marking the end of the Intifada.
Although the Intifada did not achieve the aims it had hoped for, it still inspires contemporary Palestinian revolutions and shows how the people has not died – and their rights are not lost.