Intifada - Definition and Overview

Intifada (also Intefadah or Intifadah; from Arabic: انتفاضة "shaking off") is an Islamic term for uprising.

It came into common usage as the popularised name for two recent campaigns directed at ending the Israeli military occupation. It is one of the most significant aspects in recent years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The first Palestinian intifada began in 1987, with a decrease in violence in 1991 and a more complete end with the signing of the Oslo accords (August 1993) and the creation of the Palestinian National Authority.

The Al-Aqsa Intifada (also known as the second Palestinian intifada) was the violent Palestinian-Israeli conflict that began on September 29, 2000, when Ariel Sharon and an entourage of 1,000 armed men entered the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Following the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003 Muqtada al-Sadr, a militant Shia cleric, launched an uprising which he referred to as the 'Iraqi Intifada'[1] (http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=585) aimed at ending the US military occupation of Iraq.

See also

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Projects working for peace among Israelis and Arabs

External Links

• The Intifada and Nonviolent Struggle, Arabic (PDF) (http://65.109.42.80/organizations/org/scannedPDFs/The%20Intifada%20and%20Nonviolent%20Struggle%20-%20Arabic.pdf) (Gene Sharp, Albert Einstein Institution)