Intifada (Arabic : انتفاضة, romanized: intifāḍah) is an Arabic word for a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement. It can also be used to refer to a civilian uprising against oppression. [1] [2]
In the 20th century, the word intifada has been used in to describe various uprisings. In the Iraqi Intifada in 1952, Iraqi parties took to the streets to protest their monarchy. [3] Other later examples include the Western Sahara's Zemla Intifada, the First Sahrawi Intifada, and the Second Sahrawi Intifada. [4] In the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, it refers to uprising by Palestinian people against Israeli occupation or Israel, involving both violent and nonviolent methods of resistance, including the First Intifada (1987–1993) and the Second Intifada (2000–2005). [5] [6] [7]
In Arabic-language usage, any uprising can be referred to as an intifada, including the 1916 Easter Rising, [8] the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, [9] and the 1949 Jeju uprising. [10] When used in English outside of the Arab World, the word has primarily referred to the two Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. [11] [12] [13] [14]
Intifāḍa (انتفاضة) is an Arabic maṣdar (مصدر), or verbal noun, of instance (اسم مرة ism marra ) of the verb intafaḍa (انتفض), derived from the triconsonantal Semitic root n-f-ḍ (ن-ف-ض) related to shaking (off), dusting (off), and making something shiver. [15] : 1157 The verb انتفضintafaḍa is in the verb form اِفْتَعَلَiftaʿala, referred to in Western sources as 'form VIII,' denoting reflexivity." [15] : 1157
The Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic gives the meaning of the verb انتفضintafaḍa as: "to be shaken off, be dusted off; to shake; to shudder, shiver, tremble (jo with); to sheke of from oneself (i s.th.); to wake up, come to consciousness," and of its verbal noun انتفاضةintifāḍa as a "shiver, shudder, tremor; awakening (pol.); popular uprising." [15] : 1157
In the context of Palestine, the word intifada refers to attempts to "shake off" the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the First and Second Intifadas. [1] [16] The term was originally chosen to signify "aggressive nonviolent resistance"; [17] in the 1980s, Palestinian students adopted intifada as less confrontational than terms in earlier militant rhetoric since it bore no connotation of violence. [18] The First Intifada was characterized by protests, general strikes, economic boycotts, and riots, including the widespread throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at the Israeli army and its infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza. The Second Intifada was characterized by a period of heightened violence. The suicide bombings carried out by Palestinian assailants became one of the more prominent features of the Second Intifada and mainly targeted Israeli civilians, contrasting the relatively less violent nature of the First Intifada.
The phrase "Globalize the intifada" is a slogan used to promote worldwide activism in solidarity with Palestinian resistance. The phrase and those associated with it have caused controversy, particularly concerning their impact and connotations. Critics have claimed it encourages widespread violence or terrorism. [19] [20] [21]
In Arabic-language texts, uprisings anywhere can be referred to using the word intifada, including, for example, the 1916 Easter Rising (Arabic : انتفاضة الفصح), [8] the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Arabic : انتفاضة غيتو وارسو), [9] and the 1949 Jeju uprising (Arabic : انتفاضة جيجو). [10]
In English, the word may refer to these events, overwhelmingly in the Arabic-speaking world:
The word intifada means to throw off something that oppresses.
في 19 أبريل 1943، بدأت الانتفاضة الأولى ضد النظام النازي On 19 April 1943, the first intifada began against the Nazi regime
Etymologically, intifada denotes a shaking-off, but in contemporary Arabic, it means an uprising: For instance, a 1952 uprising in Iraq against the Hashemite monarchy is referred to in Arabic as an intifada. But in English, including in English-language dictionaries and encyclopedias, the word refers primarily to two periods of sustained Palestinian revolt, the First and Second Intifadas.
Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University on Wednesday after protesters projected a US flag in flames and slogans including "Long live the student intifada" onto a building overnight.
It is being called the Student Intifada, a grassroots protest movement spreading to different college and university campuses around the country involving students at over a hundred campuses, setting up encampments, occupations and protests (...)
Anti-Israel activists groups defied Harvard University warnings that their protest encampment must dissolve under threat of suspension, proclaiming the campus occupation movement a "student intifada" in a press conference on Monday.