Intifada Causes of the First

¶ … Intifada

CAUSES OF THE FIRST INTIFADA

Arab-Israel conflict is almost 90 years old and roots of it can be traced back to the nineteenth century with the rise of Arab nationalism and Zionism. With the establishment of state of Israel in 1948, this conflict rose to new heights when during the process of its creation over 770,000 Palestinians were displaced and dispossessed of a land, culture and heritage that they believed was rightfully theirs. And those who chose to stay in Israel encountered horrible atrocities in the form of social, political and economic subjugation. With Israel gaining more land in the June of 1967 as it captured the Old City of Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, additional 350,000 Palestinians were displaced. The population of Arabs that still stayed behind faced more problems as Israeli military authority imposed severe restrictions which were greater in intensity than the ones before.

It had become a colony within Israel where Palestinians were subjugation through political repression, economic manipulation, institutional destabilizing and ideological and cultural suppression. These tactics were used to politically and economically impede the growth of Palestinian and deny them a right to exist peacefully as a separate community within Israel. They felt that such drastic measures would force Palestinians out of the West Bank and Gaza and forever eliminate the issue of Palestine. This resulted in deeper resentment and organized resistance grew which was largely supported by Palestinian nationalist movement. But this process of colonization of Palestinians has generated exactly the same things that it did within British and French colonies namely widespread discontent, bitterness and organized resistance.

With occupation of West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians have lost control over all aspects of their lives including legal, civil, and political rights, land, and water rights, taxation, trade, services, security, education, health, and social welfare. In the Municipal elections in the Occupied Territories which were last held in 1976, pro-PLO candidates emerged winners. However in 1982, when National Guidance Committee (NGC) was successfully developed to fight for Palestinian's right of self-determination, Israeli authorities took severe actions resulting in unfair dismissals of mayors, disbanding of municipal councils and banning of NGC. In other words, Israel denied Palestinians political participation and representation and even political gathering were not allowed.

Palestinians in Occupied Territories had always recognized PLO as their official representative but since 1980, they were denied all contact with the party leaders. They were not even allowed to show support for PLO and these measures were put in effect under the Likud government in 1977. This rule was termed the "Iron Fist" even by the Israelis and was geared towards suppression of Palestinian resistance and growing nationalism among Arabs. In 1982, Israeli invasion of Lebanon further instigated Palestinians against Israeli forces since close to 1,000 Palestinian refugees were killed in the massacres of Sabra and Shatila. Palestinians grew even more impatient, bitter and restless and this served as a catalyst for the intifada.

The resistance escalated steadily and from 1981, a cycle of increased violence was witnessed in the Occupied Territories. Meron Benvenisti reported that number of violent acts between 1977 and 1982 were approximately 500. This number grew alarmingly and from 1982 to 1987, 3,000 incidents of violent were reported. Prior to intifada, it was found that yearly count of violence had risen to 3,150 between April 1986 and April 1987.

The escalated acts of violence in the occupied territories testified to the fact that Iron Fist was incapable of controlling growing resistance from Palestinian quarters. Two years prior to the intifada, political expression of Palestinians came under even greater restrictions. In August 1985, a second installment of Iron Fist was imposed resulting in arrests of political activists in quick succession and they were detained without any charges against them.

In addition to escalation in violence, along with quick arrests and prolonged detentions, even deportations, Israel's Iron Fist started "a campaign of harassment." As Jan Abu-Shakrah observed:

The campaign [begun in 1985] was marked by the use of humiliating and degrading practices, such as forcing men to stand for long periods on one leg with their hands in the air, ordering them to dance, to bray like a donkey, to walk on all fours, and so on. Residents were ordered to remove their clothes and to perform humiliating acts, and were beaten of they refused. Soldiers entered houses, destroying furniture, shooting at water tanks, and beating residents, including women, if they complained.

And as if the political oppression was not enough, Israel's Iron Fist began an economic crusade against the Palestine. Israelis started using economic resources and labor power of Palestinians to strengthen Israeli economy even though Gaza Strip and the West Bank had previously been independent economic units. They were later forced to integrate with the Israeli economic system as Mohammed K. Shadid puts it: "The occupation has helped transform Israel into a state with an imperial economy, relying for its well-being on the captive human and material resources of the occupied territories." During the occupation of important Palestinian territories, Israel took over the economic infrastructure of West Bank and Gaza, forcing Palestinians to relinquish control of water and land resources and placed restrictions on trade.

The economic policies imposed by the Israelis on the Occupied Territories and the Palestinians kept depriving Palestinians of their basic rights of trading and doing business. Every Iron Fist seemed to target some aspect of economic freedom and took it away, leaving Palestinians with little choice but to fight back. Yitzhak Rabin for example announced in 1984 that: "There will be no development initiated by the Israeli government, and no permits will be given for expanding industry and agriculture which may compete with the state of Israel." This seriously and negatively affected Palestinians' economic well-being.

Apart from political suppression and economic squeeze, there were other causes of intifada including institutional de-structuring and cultural/ideological repression. From the very beginning and especially after occupation of West Bank and Gaza, Israel began destabilizing and demolishing Palestinian institutions. After 1967, one of the very first things announced by Israel "was to demolish the existing Arab financial rod monetary institutions.... The earliest military orders closed the 31 branches of Amman-based and other banks, imposed the authority of the Bank of Israel over all banking matters, made the Israeli [currency] legal tender (jointly with the Jordanian dinar) and imposed Israeli foreign exchange controls." These institutional restructuring or de-structuring measures had an adverse effect on Palestinians' savings and investment practices. Palestinians had to revert to old or traditional institutions such as money changers and landowners to meet their borrowing and lending needs. "Although Israeli banks were encouraged to operate in the occupied territories, the policy was not wholly designed to integrate Arab financial life with Israel as a subordinate but profitable annex; it was principally designed with a political aim to weaken and undermine independent Arab economic development."

Israeli efforts of this nature were geared towards de-structuring Palestinian institutions in order to deny them the right granted by any civil society. But these efforts backfired in the form of escalated nationalist activism. The extreme resentment and resistance among Palestinians resulted in mushrooming of grass-root organizations that replaced the de-structured institutions. The actions of the military was to destabilize Palestinian civil society but "In the process, they laid the groundwork for organized, institutional resistance to the occupation." These organizations worked aggressively with a strong sense of nationalism and prepared the ground for the intifada.

Intifada also had its causes deeply embedded in the gradual erosion of ideological and cultural identity of Palestinians instigated by the Israelis. Every measure was taken to destroy the collective identity of Palestinians. Artists were strictly instructed not to use the four colors of the Palestinian flag in paintings or any other work of art. Muhammad Hallaj observed:

The word " Palestine" has been expunged from all textbooks used in the schools and methodically replaced by " Israel." Many books, most of them classics of Arabic literature, have been black-listed and libraries are forbidden to possess them. Palestinian Arab historic sites have been bulldozed or pillaged. Even Palestinian folk items, traditional costumes, and foods are being robbed and marketed abroad as Israeli creation. The Arabic names of towns, hills, and streets are being erased and changed to Hebrew names. UNESCO was correct in concluding that "the Israeli authorities [are] adopting policies in Gaza and the West Bank designed to paralyze Palestinian culture."

What served as the final nail in the coffin was summit of Arab leaders in November, 1987, in which, Iran was identified as an enemy while the Palestine issue was relegated far down the list of priorities. This created intense resentment and gave Palestinians just what they needed to take action. The time was right- political climate had reached a boiling point, social and economic unrest was plaguing Palestinian society, oppression and resistance were intense. With deep feelings of nationalism and alienation from the world, Palestinians were waiting for just the right event to propel them and their cause in the limelight. And this event came in the form of the tragic incident of first intifada on December 9, 1987.