The First Intifada: Palestinian Unity and Fragmentation
This paper examines the First Intifada, the Palestinian uprising that began on December 9, 1987, and lasted until 1993. It traces the historical roots of Palestinian fragmentation, analyzes how the uprising temporarily unified diverse factions—including multiple PLO branches, Islamic Jihad, and the Palestine Communist Party—and documents how that coalition ultimately collapsed into violent infighting. The paper discusses Israeli responses, the failure of Palestinians to achieve international recognition for statehood, and the emergence of deadly factional violence in the uprising's aftermath. It concludes by assessing the intifada's legacy, including its role in facilitating the Oslo Accords and elevating Palestinian political legitimacy on the world stage.
- Introduction: Overview of the 1987 Palestinian uprising and its internal divisions
- Historical Background: Roots of Palestinian fragmentation before the intifada
- The First Intifada: Unity and Resistance: Coalition-building, nonviolent tactics, and Israeli responses
- The Demise of the First Intifada: Collapse of Palestinian unity and rising factional violence
- After the Intifada: Factional Violence: Death squads, Hamas-Fatah conflict, and Arafat's limited control
- Changes and Legacy of the First Intifada: International awareness, cultural unity, and diplomatic outcomes
- Conclusion: Intifada's role in Oslo Accords and Palestinian political legitimacy
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What makes this paper effective
- Balances political, geographic, and social dimensions of the conflict, showing how geography (the physical separation of Gaza and the West Bank) reinforced factional divisions among Palestinians.
- Maintains a clear chronological arc from the uprising's roots through its collapse and aftermath, making a complex historical episode accessible and logically organized.
- Uses specific evidence—names of factions, casualty figures, quoted statements—to ground general claims about Palestinian fragmentation rather than relying on vague assertions.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates analytical use of historical narrative: it does not merely recount events but explains causal relationships, such as how the failure to achieve statehood accelerated factional breakdown, and how Arafat's support for Saddam Hussein weakened Palestinian financial and political cohesion. This "cause-and-effect within a chronological frame" structure is a reliable organizing technique for political history papers.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a framing introduction establishing the central tension (unity vs. fragmentation), then provides historical context before moving through three distinct phases: coalition-building during the intifada, the collapse of that coalition, and post-intifada violence. A penultimate section assesses broader changes, and a brief conclusion ties the intifada to its diplomatic legacy. Each section is clearly labeled and advances the argument sequentially.
Introduction
On December 9, 1987, approximately 1.5 million Palestinian Arabs living in areas conquered and occupied by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967 began an uprising (Goell, 1989). Called the "intifada," and later the "first intifada," the unrest was centered on the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem (Bligh, 1999). While Israel and Jews living in Israel were the original targets, various splinter movements within the intifada eventually developed strong antagonisms toward one another. By the end of the first intifada in 1993, Palestinians were very often the ones being killed — frequently under cruel circumstances (Goell, 1989).
This aspect of the intifada underscores an important point: while people tend to think of the Palestinians as a single unified group, they are in fact composed of distinct subgroups. Although the struggle for a Palestinian homeland had some unifying effects (Goell, 1989), infighting among diverse Palestinian factions was a significant and recurring occurrence during this period.
Historical Background
Some writers argue that the roots of the first intifada lie several decades earlier, when military rule over Arab areas ended. Many Palestinians living within Israel were glad to see the Arab Knesset — the parliamentary body — removed from power, as it was not always recognized as a legitimate spokesperson for Palestinians in Israel (Bligh, 1999). However, that created a leadership void that may in turn have encouraged the development of several competing groups vying for power (Emerson, 1997).
The political geography of the region also contributed to a lack of unity among Palestinians. Over 750,000 Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip, only 75 square miles of land along the southeastern Mediterranean coast of Israel (Emerson, 1997). Others live in the West Bank, a larger area between the western edge of Israel and the country of Jordan — territory claimed by both Palestinian and Jewish occupants, some of whom have settled there specifically to force others out (Emerson, 1997).
The development of several distinct groups was a natural outgrowth of varying Palestinian experiences. Some Palestinians lived within the borders of Israel as citizens of that country, gradually improving their circumstances and seeking a stable life for their families (Emerson, 1997). Others lived in abject poverty in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank with no sense of any homeland. Thus, some Palestinians saw themselves as a minority within a recognized country, while others viewed themselves as war refugees without a real home (Emerson, 1997).
Bibliography
Bligh, Alexander. 1999. "The Intifada and the New Political Role of the Israeli Arab Leadership." Middle Eastern Studies, January.
Emerson, Steven. 1997. "Meltdown: The End of the Intifada." The New Republic, November 23.
Goell, Yosef. 1989. "Israel's Arabs: The 'Intifada' Comes Home." The New Republic, October.
Kuttab, Daoud. 1988. "Beyond the Intifada: The Struggle to Build a Nation (Palestine)." The Nation, October 17.
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