by J. André Faust (October 19, 2025)
In December 1987, an Israeli army truck struck and killed four Palestinian workers in Gaza. The protests that followed ignited the First Intifada — an uprising that redefined Palestinian resistance and gave birth to Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement (BBC News, 2002).
Arabic: الانتفاضة الأولى (al-Intifāḍa al-Ūlā — “the first uprising”)
Origins
The uprising spread rapidly across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, driven by anger over two decades of occupation, land seizures, and economic hardship (Smith, 1990).
Nature of the movement
The First Intifada was a grassroots civil resistance rather than a war between armies. Local networks coordinated:
- General strikes and shop closures
- Boycotts of Israeli goods
- Refusal to pay certain taxes
- Graffiti and mass demonstrations
The enduring image that reached global audiences was stone-throwing youths confronting armed soldiers (U.N. Chronicle, 1988; Smith, 1990).
Organisation
Coordinated by local committees in schools, unions, and mosques rather than the exiled PLO leadership, the Intifada relied on community networks that sustained civil disobedience (U.N. Chronicle, 1988; Smith, 1990).
Israeli response
Israel deployed large numbers of troops, imposed curfews, and conducted mass arrests. Use of force, including live ammunition, drew international criticism and intensified scrutiny of conditions under occupation (Amnesty International, 1989; Human Rights Watch, 1990).
Consequences
The uprising shifted global opinion, pushed the PLO toward negotiation, and paved the way for the Oslo peace process. Amid this turmoil, Hamas formally emerged in 1987, providing an Islamic, community-based alternative to the PLO’s secular nationalism (Quandt, 1993; Shlaim, 1994).
Casualties
Roughly 1 200 Palestinians and 160 Israelis were killed during the uprising, with thousands more injured or imprisoned (Smith, 1990).
Legacy
The First Intifada transformed the Palestinian struggle from a distant guerrilla campaign into a grassroots civil movement seen worldwide. Its legacy still shapes debates on recognition, resistance, and the quest for statehood.
References
- Amnesty International. (1989). Israel and the Occupied Territories: The Military Justice System in the Occupied Territories.
- BBC News. (2002). Timeline: The First Intifada. Retrieved from https://news.bbc.co.uk/
- Human Rights Watch. (1990). A Nation Under Siege: Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.
- Quandt, W. B. (1993). Peace Process: American Diplomacy and the Arab–Israeli Conflict Since 1967. Brookings Institution Press.
- Shlaim, A. (1994). The Politics of Partition: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine 1921–1951. Oxford University Press.
- Smith, C. D. (1990). Palestine and the Arab–Israeli Conflict. St. Martin’s Press.
- United Nations Chronicle. (1988). Intifada: The Uprising Continues, Vol. 25(3).
About the author
J. André Faust examines the structural entanglements of politics, economics and society. He explores how single moments, from a lone act of violence to a policy choice, can unfold into decades of social and cultural change.
His approach treats reality like a layered 3D model. Systems overlap, interact and sometimes obscure one another. Forecasts are provisional; hidden layers and feedback loops are often still at work.
Guiding idea: understand connections, trace feedback and revise beliefs as new layers come into view.
