The Intifada, 5 Years Later

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Soon after the intifada was launched, leading Palestinian Arab officials began to confide to the Arabic press that it was not a spontaneous phenomenon, and that the Oslo Accords were only viewed as a temporary strategic stage, rather than an attempt at a permanent peace. The Palestinian Authority communications minister, Imad Al-Faluji, in an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Safir on March 3, 2001, explained, “Whoever thinks that the intifada broke out because of the despised Sharon’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is wrong…This intifada was planned in advance, ever since President Arafat’s return from the Camp David negotiations…”


On his way to Kuwait, where he later died of a heart attack, the former P.A. minister for Jerusalem affairs, Faysal Al-Husseini, gave what turned out to be his last interview to Al-Arabi on June 24, 2001.He explained that the Oslo Accords were a “Trojan Horse,” and that the strategic goal of Palestinian Arabs “is the liberation of all historical Palestine from the River to the Sea, even if this means that the conflict will last for another thousand years.”


As the intifada entered its fifth year last week much has changed since its start. The biggest loser seems to be Yasser Arafat, now holed up in his headquarters. Dozens of leading Arab writers this past year have echoed President Bush’s first controversial calls for Mr. Arafat to leave, including: editor of the Kuwaiti Al-Siyassa, Ahmad Jarallah; the former editor of London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed; editor of the Egyptian Al-Akhbar, Galal Dweidar; editor of the pro-Saddam Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abd Al-Bari Atwan, and the anti-American columnist and former editor of the London “Al-Hayat,” Jihad Al-Khazen. Also, under the Bush administration, Palestinian Arab groups associated with the P.A. are listed on the State Department’s terrorist list, including the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of the Fatah organization headed by Mr. Arafat.


Last week’s anniversary was commemorated by many in the Arab press. On Al Jazeera, Secretary of State Powell said in published reports: “You say we blame the victims…The victims are those who are being blown up by bombs…what is the intifada in its five years of existence? Has it produced progress toward a Palestinian state? Has it defeated Israel on the battlefield?…It is time to end the intifada…the intifada has spawned terrorism and it has not achieved anything…”


The Jordanian newspaper Al-Rai published an interview with the former P.A. prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, on September 27, 2004, in which he was quoted as saying, “Now I think that the Intifada in its entirety was a mistake and it should not have continued.”


Many in the Arab world, however, call for a continuation of the intifada. Writing in Al-Ahram on September 28, Farhat Hosam Eddin expressed his encouragement: “Today marks the fifth year of Al-Aqsa intifada which…has so far presented more than 4000 martyrs…The Palestinian resistance could create fright and alarm among the Israelis through martyrdom operations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv…The intifada has realized significant results, and made a big damage to Israel in economy, tourism, security, and politics, and raised the number of Israeli killed persons to become one against every three martyrs.”


The P.A. also continues to support fighting by using incitement to violence. On September 28, 2004, the Web site of the Palestinian National Authority State Information Service stated: “The current Al Aqsa intifada was preceded by many uprisings by the Palestinian people…the resistance was born to avenge the people and the destruction that has befell the Palestinian territories. The flow of killed civilians and destroyed homes and infrastructure fuelled the Intifada and indicated that it would not stop in the near future. And today, as the intifada celebrates its fifth birthday, the Palestinian people continues to sacrifice lives and property…”


A look at the messages of official P.A. imams and main Gaza mosques also provides a glimpse into Yasser Arafat’s plans for the future of his people. On September 12, 2004, Sheik Ibrahim Mahdi appeared on P.A. TV, stating: “We must learn the lessons from [Prophet Muhammad’s nocturnal journey], especially as we are fighting this bitter war with the brethren of apes and pigs, the Jews…Who will liberate the Al Aqsa Mosque once again. Al Aqsa will be liberated in the path of the Prophet Muhammad, as he said: ‘The Jews will fight you and you will be imposed as rulers on them until the Jew hides behind stones or trees, and the stone or tree will say: Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him except for the Gharqad, which is a tree of the Jews.'”



Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.


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