« Thematic Highlights

Intifada

Dr. Khuloud Dajani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The mutual violence rose out of the fear that peace agreements would not succeed, especially after the failure of Camp David, Taba negotiations and the return of Israel’s practices of oppression, killing, confiscation of land, checkpoints, etc… Palestinians responded to the oppression in order to defend themselves. One way of defending themselves was by carrying out martyrdom operations. At a certain point, we needed the parties who carry out such operations to think twice about the operations that target Israeli citizens. Despite the fact that we are living in a period of conflict, we should let our plight be known through the media on the international level and find an Arabic, Palestinian, and even Islamic spokespeople who could reflect the truth about us; the truth that we are not for the killing and targeting of civilians.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Majed Tbeileh
Nablus Youth Federation, The Future Generation Hands Committee Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ I reached the conclusion that throwing a stone won’t get me a state, nor will carrying a gun. I will give you an example. The first intifada lasted for seven years, but it didn't have as huge an impact as the second intifada. There wasn’t as much support or as many demonstrations around the world for the Palestinians as there was this time. I will explain why I think so. During the first intifada, Palestinians used stones and basic tools to protest, whereas the weapons used in the second intifada took the form of resistance to the next level. Also, the number of victims among Palestinians and Israelis was much higher. Keep in mind that the first intifada mostly happened in Palestinian towns and cities, so the Israeli public wasn’t directly affected by it and therefore didn’t pay attention to the Palestinian suffering. In contrast, subsequent suicide bombings inside Israel caused a change in the Israeli mainstream and some began to call for dismantling settlements and giving the Palestinians what they want so they [the Israelis] could spare themselves the headache.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Riyad Faraj
Parents Circle-Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ It's not that we decided not to take part in the second intifada, it's just that we figured that nothing good would come of it. We are the ones giving so much, while leaders like Sharon are sitting in their chairs. His son doesn't get on a bus so there's no way he could be harmed by suicide bombings, and Arafat's child is in France and she can't be hurt either, so it's just us that are paying the price. It's true that we might be more patriotic than they are, but as people we came to the conclusion that trying to engage in dialogue with the Israelis would do more good than bloodshed. Because everybody has had a share in the bloodshed: the prisoners and the martyred and the injured and crippled.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Daniel Seidemann
Ir Amim Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ During the last four years of the intifada, where Israelis and Palestinians have regressed and cancelled the mutual humanization that took place before, and dehumanized one another again, we never missed a beat. It's not touchy-feely people-to-people stuff, it's very object oriented: history has condemned us to share the city [Jerusalem]; we've got work to do, let's get the work done. I'm involved in very eye-level, joint efforts without for a minute forgetting that I'm an Israeli trying to advocate an Israeli interest as I see it, and my partners, rivals, sometimes enemies are trying to advance their causes from the Palestinian perspective.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ayelet Shahak
Association for the Commemoration of Bat-Chen Shahak, Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Khaled [a member of the Bereaved Families Forum] is a very wise man and he even says that he knows they made a mistake in this intifada. That this intifada caused them more harm. To hear it from him makes it easier for us. Because at the bottom line, as a left-wing person who was slapped in the face with this Intifada, to hear someone from the other side say that they were mistaken, that they did the wrong thing, makes it easier to think about the future.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Adele Zumot
All for Peace Radio Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The intifada has affected each of us living here a great deal. I had a great job in Radio Bethlehem for five years, but ever since the intifada started I’ve had trouble entering Bethlehem on a daily basis. Every time I tried to go in, I would have to face the soldiers and all the trouble of having permits. They would check my car and give me a hard time for being a Palestinian journalist from Jerusalem trying to get into Bethlehem. Of course, everything around us affects, such as victims we see on TV. Don’t you think that seeing them has an impact? It definitely affects even the toughest person.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ali Abu Awwad
Bereaved Families Forum, Al Tareek (The Way) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ During the recent intifada I became connected to the conflict in a different way. I was badly injured in my leg by an Israeli settler and my brother was killed by an Israeli soldier in a totally inhuman way and without any reason. The soldier shot my brother from a distance of two feet only because he was talking to him. This isn’t human conduct at all. At the time, my brother Yussif didn’t know that the Israelis had issued a new law. He didn’t know that it was forbidden from opening his mouth; we were supposed to keep our mouths shut. My brother broke that law, and since then I decided not to shut my mouth.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Dimitri Diliani
People's Campaign for Peace and Democracy Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The first intifada succeeded in getting our rights acknowledged. It led to the conferences in Madrid and Oslo. Regardless of whether you see Oslo as a positive or a negative thing, just getting to the point of Oslo was a great achievement. It was an achievement that was the fruit of the Palestinian people's efforts during the first intifada. The Palestinian people paid for it and earned it. That is exactly the opposite of what is happening now in the second intifada. This shouldn't even been called an intifada. It's not an intifada, but rather a war that is being waged against us. We call it an intifada, but that's incorrect. They are shooting at us with missiles and airplanes. The people are not engaged in a revolt. They are unhappy, angry, and hurt. If you compare the period between 1987 and 1992 to the period that we are currently living, you'll understand why they've led to different outcomes.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Adele Zumot
All for Peace Radio Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Before the intifada there was a high percentage of Jews and Palestinians that supported peace. With the intifada, that number decreased. The number of people that believed in the idea of peace shrunk, so we could in our own words and expressions try to bring those people back to believing in it.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Ali Abu Awwad
Bereaved Families Forum, Al Tareek (The Way) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Not being able to go home after I was released according to a peace agreement was a problem for me, but the greater problem was that this agreement didn’t provide the Palestinian people with what it was supposed to. The agreement didn’t ensure a Palestinian state and didn’t stop the settlements. At the same time the Oslo agreement didn’t ensure security for the Israelis and didn’t stop the operations inside Israel, therefore it was a failure for both sides. The Oslo agreement was a result of the efforts of the politicians, not the people[…] This led to the second intifada which was more violent. The attitude of the people on both sides was that we tried peace, and it didn’t work, therefore peace with the other side is impossible. The anger involved in the second intifada was far deeper.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Riyad Faraj
Parents Circle-Bereaved Families Forum Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ Those who militarized this intifada are the bad ones. It wasn't right to militarize the intifada, meaning the involvement of weapons. Had it stayed a civil uprising, we would have had the public opinion on our side, but now we have lost everything. Now we are perceived as terrorists and criminals when we used to be the righteous. Now we have lost everything. No one can stand to hear about a Palestinian. We used to be respected anywhere we went because we used to ask for our rights in legal ways--we used to protest or throw stones at tanks, but now we are shooting and bombing and killing. The responsibility lies with all of us. No one can stand to live in such circumstances without doing something about it.”  [Source in Complete Interview]

Gershon Baskin
IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information) Portrait »
Interview Highlights »

“ The first intifada broke out in the end of November of '87. I like most Israelis was struck that something very different was happening. […] I was struck by the tremendous lack of information and the tremendous ignorance that existed in the Israeli public. The most common response amongst Israelis was, "how could they do that to us?" With the notion that we had created this benevolent occupation and we were so good, and they should be thanking us and not throwing stones at us and attacking us.”  [Source in Complete Interview]