Worrying About an Intifada

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At the Daily Beast’s Open Zion blog, Yousef Munayyer responds to the recent gossip about another impending Palestinian uprising, or intifada. Any single incident of abuse could be the spark, he writes. Just to name a few off the top of his head:

There was the killing of 17 year-old, Mohamad Salaymeh, in December. Israeli soldiers shot and killed Lubna Hanash, a 22 year-old female, in Hebron last month. Then there are the regular attacks of settler violence against Palestinians like this shooting in Qusra last week. There is also the persistent Israeli firing into Gaza which has led to numerous Palestinian deaths and casualties since the “ceasefire.” Or the racist beating of a Palestinian man in Yaffa by a dozen or more Israeli Jews or the assault on a Palestinian women in Jerusalem. And, of course, the death of Arafat Jaradat, a 30 year-old Palestinian detained for allegedly throwing stones, only to have died days later in an Israeli prison after apparent torture.

But there is something curious about the worrywarts wondering if the next intifada is upon us:

The fear of an oncoming Intifada, so commonplace in Israeli and Western debates and policy discussion on the issue, underscores exactly how this discourse is problematically filtered through the prism of Israeli security alone. The State Department is now calling for “maximum restraint.” The Israeli prime minister’s office issued Mahmoud Abbas an “unequivocal demand to restore quiet.”

But the occupation itself is an intolerable and constant system of violence. It has been ongoing for decades, with episode after episode that could be a spark. Yet it is because an Intifada—or Palestinian uprising—is understood to mean that Israelis will face greater security risks, it suddenly generates urgency and fear. The message this sends is that only when Israeli security is challenged does the world seem to take note.

When Israel is at risk of having a few more stones thrown at it, or having more publicity of its apartheid system forced upon it – that’s when we have to worry. But the daily violence and oppression Palestinians face at the hands of the Israelis? That’s really nothing to be concerned with.

The other thing that amazes me about Israeli worries of an intifada is that Palestinian resistance is a predictable consequence of what they are doing. And, as a new EU report just reiterated , what they are doing is deliberately depriving Palestinians of their land, their livelihood, and their dignity.

17 thoughts on “Worrying About an Intifada”

  1. It's indeed an opportune time for "intifada". The israelis are surrounded on all sides by people
    especially young Arabs, who all hate the racist ,apartheid state. I say this with caution because it
    will give the israelis more excuses to kill Palestinians. They get away with all these atrocities
    becase of the U.S. The hypocrisy of the USA is so repugnant and so blatant when it comes
    to the human rights of the Palestinians. The israelis do have a lot to fear in the near future. I believe that because of all the chaos in the Middle East, the israelis will suffer and perhaps have to com-
    ply with at least 70 UN Resolutions and give up the land they stole from Palestine.

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  3. Anybody ever wonder why Al Queda has never attacked Israel to my knowledge, but has killed thousands of Shiites. Are at least some Al Queda groups acting in service of the West as was the case during the 1980s in Afghanistan?

    1. Al Qaida´s job is to draw us into the War on Terror – that´s what they´re paid for, and they do their job well. Of course they won´t attack Zionists, that would be biting the hand that feeds them.

  4. Al-Qaeda hasn’t attacked Israel directly because they want to weaken the US first. They realized (correctly) that the apartheid state of Israel cannot exist without the support of the US. By getting the US stuck in ruinous wars, they wreck the economy and destroy public (US) support for imperial policies.
    As for killing the Shia, that tends to be the smaller splinter groups rather then the central authority. In Iraq, the takfirs (Sunnis that kill Shia) were acting against the express orders of bin Laden.

  5. The next "Intifada" will be in a few decades when Iran, Egypt, Syria, & Iraq decide to solve Israel's apartheid problem by blockading it like it's doing with Gaza today. The US & Europe will be too bankrupt & droned out to do anything about it.

  6. Developing psychological dedication is a bit difficult. You have to begin by trying to determine what problems are creating customers insane every day and what their needs xjming

  7. This is so sad and pathetic when it comes on Palestine people. I mean what are their actual fault , that they are Muslims? Well I know the history behind all this grand exploitation of human beings but still are humans killing other human in so wild behavior. No, these are monster , wear the mask of human !!!

  8. The next "Intifada" will be in a few decades when Iran, Egypt, Syria, & Iraq decide to solve Israel's apartheid problem by blockading it like it's doing with Gaza today. The US & Europe will be too bankrupt & droned out to do anything about it. clothing manufacturer

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