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DURING THE INTIFADA |
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DURING THE INTIFADA |
Since its start on September 29, 2000, Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have been engaged in an ongoing violent confrontation, a sequel to the first intifada that lasted from approximately 1988 to 1992. The Palestinian Arab intention is to wear down Israeli resistance, particularly from the political and social standpoint, and to obtain Arab and international involvement and support for the Palestinian Arab position. This activity is aimed at forcing Israel to make the maximum concessions to Palestinian demands.
Although the Palestinian Arabs sometimes attempt to portray the violence and terrorism of the intifada as a "popular uprising", it is in fact a carefully orchestrated campaign with specific strategic and tactical goals. The Arab forces learned in 1948, 1967, and 1973 that direct, conventional warfare against Israel cannot succeed. They have adapted themselves to that reality and are enjoying considerable success through limited, unconventional warfare coupled with unflinching use of viscious propaganda tactics to promote success through diplomatic channels. This is enabled by "world opinion" that is far more outraged by Israel's efforts to defend its civilian population than by the Palestinian Arab terrorists and by world bodies, especially the United Nations, that provide one-sided forums to shepherd the Palestinian cause..
In the early days of the intifada, Palestinian Arabs complained about "desecration" of the al-Aqsa mosque, citing that outrage as the spark that set off the intifada. But in fact no Israeli entered the al-Aqsa mosque -- the real desecration of holy places was perpetrated by the Palestinian Arabs, not Israelis. In October 2000, Palestinian mobs destroyed a Jewish shrine in Nablus – Joseph’s Tomb – tearing up and burning Jewish prayer books. They stoned worshipers at the Western Wall and attacked Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem with firebombs and automatic weapons. Palestinian violence in the streets started with stone throwing and escalated to massive attacks with automatic weapons and explosives. Most armed attackers were members of the Tanzim, Arafat’s own militia. None of the violent attacks were initiated by Israeli security forces, but those forces had to respond to restore order and to protect Israel's population.
On October 12, 2000 horrified TV viewers witnessed the lynching of two IDF reservists at the Ramallah police station by a Palestinian mob. Palistinian Authority operatives threatened and intimidated newscrews at the scene to try to suppress the filming and threatened reprisals against stations that broadcast the tape.
The Intifada has included attacks on Jewish settlements and their residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, attacks on IDF troops stationed in the territories and attacks on neighborhoods in Jerusalem. There have also been a number of terrorist attacks against the Israeli population, including suicide bombings in heavily populated areas such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Most of the attacks have been directed at Israeli urban areas, and its most vulnerable citizens including children, in order to exact the maximum price and thus to influence Israeli public opinion.
The Israeli government has acted to stop these terrorist acts, with reprisals such as bombing of PA official buildings and a series of assassinations of leading Palestinian figures, carried out by the Israeli security services. In March 2002, the IDF staged a large-scale action against terrorist bomb factories, arms stockpiles, and training areas in refugee camps. Generally, Israel's military efforts to suppress the terrorists generated much more international outrage than did the terrorist killings of Israeli civilians, making it difficult for Israel to have a consistent campaign against the violence.
Palistinian Arab media, and the media in the Arab world generally, support the intifada by calling for attacks on Israel, by inflaming passions with fictional or exaggerated accounts of Israeli actions, by scurrilous anti-Semitic incitement, and by glorifying the "martyrs" who become suicide bombers. For example, on June 8, 2001, a week after a Tel-Aviv suicide bombing and a few days following a cease-fire declaration from Arafat, a sermon by Sheik Ibrahim Madhi was broadcast from the Sheik 'Ijlin Mosque on the Palestinian Authority TV station. It included these passages translated by MEMRI:
From September 29, 2000 through September 11, 2002 the IDF logged the following statistics of the effect of the al-Aqsa Intifada on Israel:
| Civilians | Security Forces | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injured | 3,202 | 1,307 | 4,509 |
| Killed | 427 | 185 | 612 |
There were 6,665 attacks on Israelis within the West Bank, 7,116 in the Gaza Strip plus 615 inside Green Line Israel, for a total of 14,396 attacks. [Source: IDF Spokesperson September 12, 2002]
By mid-2002 there were signs that the al-Aqsa Intifada was nearing an end. The success of Israel's Operation Defensive Shield changed the scenario from almost daily bombings and major attacks to scattered, minor events. The cost to the Palestinian Arabs was immense as their economy teetered near collapse, their lives were severly restricted, and terrorists were killed or jailed en masse. And there was no political reward for the Palestinian Arabs. While Europeans, the UN and others mouthed support, in actual fact the Palestinian Arabs gained nothing while losing any remaining support from the United States and the Israeli political left.
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