What is an intifada?

By A.V.

ON JANUARY 8th, a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem smashed a lorry into a group of Israeli soldiers not far from the Old City. Four soldiers were killed before the driver, Fadi Qunbar, was shot dead. This sort of incident has become grimly commonplace: hundreds of Palestinians have carried out similar attacks since September 2015. Indeed, some were quick to cast the assault as part of a wider campaign. A Hamas spokesman applauded Qunbar, saying his actions were part of an “intifada”. What is an intifada, and is this really one?

In its most basic sense, intifada is a variant of the Arabic verb “to shake”. In modern times it is associated with a popular uprising: intifada was first used this way in 1952, to describe Iraqis protesting against their king. The term has remained popular throughout the Middle East, from Western Sahara to semi-autonomous Kurdistan. But the word is most closely linked to the Palestinian cause. Palestinians have already fought two full intifadas, chiefly against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.