Intifada

Intifada (Arabic: انتفاضة, romanized: intifāḍah) is an Arabic word for a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement. It can be used to refer to an uprising against oppression.^[1][2]

In the 20th century, the word intifada has been used in to describe various uprisings. In the Iraqi Intifada in 1952, Iraqi parties took to the streets to protest their monarchy.^[3] Other later examples include the Western Sahara's Zemla Intifada, the First Sahrawi Intifada, and the Second Sahrawi Intifada.^[4] In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict context, it refers to uprising by Palestinian people against Israeli occupation or Israel, involving both violent and nonviolent methods of resistance, including the First Intifada (1987–1993) and the Second Intifada (2000–2005).^[5][6][7]

In English-language usage, the word primarily refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation.^{[8][9][10][11]} In Arabic-language usage, any uprising can be referred to as an intifada, including the 1916 Easter Rising,^[12] the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising,^[13] and the 1949 Jeju uprising.^[14]

Etymology

Intifada is an Arabic word literally meaning, as a noun, "tremor", "shivering", "shuddering".^[15][16] It is derived from an Arabic term nafada meaning "to shake", "shake off", "get rid of",^[15][17] as a dog might shrug off water, or as one might shake off sleep,^[18] or dirt from one's sandals.^[19]

History

Further information: Iraqi Intifada (1952)

In the Palestinian context, the word refers to attempts to "shake off" the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the First and Second Intifadas,^[1][20] where it was originally chosen to connote "aggressive nonviolent resistance",^[15] a meaning it bore among Palestinian students in struggles in the 1980s and which they adopted as less confrontational than terms in earlier militant rhetoric since it bore no nuance of violence.^[19] The First Intifada was characterized by protests, general strikes, economic boycotts, and riots, including the widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli army and its infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza. The Second Intifada was characterized by a period of heightened violence. The suicide bombings carried out by Palestinian assailants became one of the more prominent features of the Second Intifada and mainly targeted Israeli civilians, contrasting with the relatively less violent nature of the First Intifada.

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Main article: Globalize the Intifada

See also: First Intifada, Second Intifada, and Unity Intifada

The term Intifada, in context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict refers to major Palestinian uprisings against Israeli control, with the First Intifada occurring between 1987 and 1993 and the Second Intifada between 2000 and 2005, both involving numerous attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces.

The phrase "Globalize the Intifada" is a slogan used to promote worldwide activism in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. The chant and its associated chants have caused controversy, particularly concerning their impact and connotations. Critics claimed it encourages widespread violence or terrorism.^[21][22][23]

List of events named Intifada

In Arabic texts, uprisings anywhere can be referred to using the Arabic word "intifada", including, for example, the 1916 Easter Rising (Arabic: انتفاضة الفصح),^[12] the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Arabic: انتفاضة غيتو وارسو),^[13] and the 1949 Jeju uprising (Arabic: انتفاضة جيجو).^[14]

In English, the word may refer to these events, overwhelmingly in the Arabic-speaking world:

• Iraqi Intifada, a series of strikes and riots in Iraq in 1952, aimed against the Hashemite monarchy rule^[3]
• October Revolution, a series of strikes, riots, and demonstrations in Sudan, that ended with the dissolution of the Abbud military regime and the beginning of second civilian rule in 1964^[24]
• March Intifada, a leftist uprising against the British colonial presence in Bahrain in March 1965^[25]
• Zemla Intifada, against Spanish colonial rule in then Spanish Sahara, in June 1970^[26]
• In Lebanese internal conflicts:
  • February 6 Intifada (1984), during the Lebanese Civil War^[27]
  • Cedar Revolution or "Intifada of Independence", the events in Lebanon after Rafic Hariri's 2005 assassination^[28]
• The 1984 Egyptian intifada, (October 1, 1984 - October 2, 1984), a bloody uprising and civil resistance movement^[29]
• 1990s uprising in Bahrain, an uprising demanding a return to democratic rule, also known as the "1990s Intifada"^[30]
• 1991 Iraqi uprisings, an armed uprising against Saddam Hussein in Iraq, also known as "Iraqi Intifada of 1991"^[31]
• In the Western Sahara conflict:
  • First Sahrawi Intifada, protests by Sahrawi activists in the Western Sahara, south of Morocco (1999–2004)^[4]
  • Second Sahrawi Intifada or Independence Intifada, demonstrations and riots in Western Sahara, south of Morocco, beginning in May 2005^[4]
  • Gdeim Izik protest camp, also referred as Third Sahrawi Intifada or simply Third Intifada^[32]
• 2005 French riots referred to be the historian Andrew Hussey as "the French Intifada"^[33]
• Arab Spring, a revolutionary wave which began on 18 December 2010 in Tunisia, sometimes referred to as "Intifada":
  • Tunisian Revolution, or Tunisian Intifada^[34]
  • Yemeni Revolution, or Yemeni Intifada^[35]
  • 2011 Egyptian revolution, or Egyptian Intifada^[36]
  • 2011–2013 Sudanese protests, or Sudanese Intifada^[37]
• Second Arab Spring, a series of anti-government protests in several Arab countries starting in late 2019, also known as "Arab Spring 2.0":
  • 17 October Revolution, nicknamed the Tax Intifada^[38]
  • 2019–2021 Iraqi protests, nicknamed Iraqi Intifada^[39]

• In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
  • First Intifada, a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation lasting from December 1987 to 1993^[40]
  • Second Intifada, also called Al-Aqsa Intifada, an uprising against Israeli occupation leading to intensification of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which began in late September 2000 and ended around 2005^[41]
  • 2014 Jerusalem unrest, a series of violent acts and attacks in Jerusalem in 2014 sometimes referred to as "Intifada"^[42]
  • 2015–2016 wave of violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict – 2015 escalation in Israeli–Palestinian conflict, sometimes referred to as "Al-Quds Intifada" or "Jerusalem Intifada" or "Knife Intifada"^[43]
  • 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, also known as the "Unity Intifada"^[44]
  • Ongoing Gaza war, referred to by some commentators as the Third Intifada^[45]
    • 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses, nicknamed the "student intifada" by activists and critics^[46]

See also

• The Electronic Intifada, an online publication which covers the Israeli–Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian perspective
• Serhildan, sometimes considered the Kurdish equivalent to "intifada".^[47]
• International Conference on Supporting Palestine Intifada
• Revolution