First Palestinian Intifada

# The First Intifada

The First Palestinian Intifada (December 1987 – October 1991 CE / Rabi al-Awwal 1408 – Rabi al-Awwal 1412 AH) was a mass Palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The uprising was largely spontaneous in its origins, driven by two decades of accumulated grievances, and involved widespread civil disobedience, strikes, protests, and stone-throwing confrontations with Israeli security forces, alongside more limited armed resistance.

Background

Israel had occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights following the Six-Day War of 1967 CE (1387 AH). By 1987, over one million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza had lived under military occupation for twenty years. Palestinians faced restrictions on movement, land confiscation for settlement construction, administrative detention without trial, restrictions on political organization, and economic dependence on the Israeli economy.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat, was based in Tunis following its expulsion from Beirut in 1982 CE and seemed increasingly disconnected from conditions on the ground in the occupied territories.

The Spark

The immediate trigger was a traffic accident. On 9 December 1987 CE (18 Rabi al-Awwal 1408 AH), an Israeli truck killed four Palestinians in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza. Rumors spread that the deaths were deliberate, in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli trader in Gaza a few days earlier. Protests erupted at the funerals and spread rapidly across Gaza and the West Bank.

Character of the Uprising

Unlike subsequent Palestinian uprisings, the First Intifada was primarily non-military in character:

Civil disobedience. Palestinians organized general strikes, boycotts of Israeli goods, and refusal to pay taxes. Israeli-appointed Palestinian administrative officials resigned en masse.

Stone throwing. The iconic image of the Intifada was Palestinian youth throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. The asymmetry of the imagery — young people with stones against soldiers with guns — shaped international perception of the conflict.

Underground committees. Palestinian grassroots organizations formed the Unified National Leadership of the Uprising (UNLU), coordinating activities across political factions. Hamas, founded by Sheikh Ahmad Yassin in 1987 CE, emerged during the Intifada as a significant force alongside the secular PLO factions.

Casualties. Over the course of the uprising, approximately 1,162 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces or Israeli civilians. Approximately 160 Israelis were killed by Palestinians. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were wounded and hundreds of thousands arrested.

International Impact

The Intifada had significant international consequences. Television footage of Israeli soldiers beating Palestinian demonstrators generated worldwide sympathy for the Palestinian cause. The United States began more active engagement, and the PLO, recognizing an opportunity, declared Palestinian independence in November 1988 CE and explicitly accepted the existence of Israel — a major shift in PLO policy that opened the path to the Oslo peace process.

The Oslo Accords

The Intifada created the political conditions for the Oslo Accords (1993 CE / 1414 AH), secret negotiations between the PLO and Israel that led to mutual recognition and a framework for Palestinian self-governance. The Palestinian Authority was established to govern portions of the West Bank and Gaza under the agreement. However, the Oslo process did not resolve the fundamental questions of Palestinian statehood, Jerusalem's status, Israeli settlements, or Palestinian refugees.

Legacy

The First Intifada is seen by Palestinians as a moment of collective agency and mass resistance. It demonstrated that the Palestinian population in the occupied territories — not the PLO leadership in Tunis — would be the driving force of any political change. It also established Hamas as a major political and military force in Palestinian politics.

For the Muslim world, the Palestinian cause remained a central concern linking Islamic solidarity with questions of justice and anti-colonial resistance. The Intifada brought renewed attention to the occupation and maintained Jerusalem's status at the center of Muslim political consciousness.

Sources

• Zachary Lockman and Joel Beinin (eds.), Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising Against Israeli Occupation
• Don Peretz, Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising
• Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited
• Ze'ev Schiff and Ehud Ya'ari, Intifada: The Palestinian Uprising — Israel's Third Front