The Palestinian struggle for legitimacy has been embodied in one phrase — intifada — that is supposed to lead to global Palestinian redemption. Intifada, literally to “shake off,” is a reminder to “shake up” Israel and alert the world to all the wrong that is done to the Palestinians as a result of the Israeli “occupation.” Past intifadas, including the uprisings in the pre-state era between the 1936-1939, increased Arab-Palestinian consciousness — but brought Palestinians no closer to statehood. Above all, intifada crosses the social barriers between upper, lower and middle classes; are all one when it comes to this national duty.

Israeli analysts Ze’ev Schiff and Ehud Ya’ari, in their seminal book Intifada, tackle the first intifada, which is also known as the uprising of 1987. They recount Yasir Arafat’s description of the term; intifada was to be like a tremor experienced during a high fever which spreads throughout the body, or the movement a dog makes when trying to rid itself of flees. This image of shaking off disease or infestation gives Palestinians a kind of carte blanche; any form of “resistance” to Israeli “occupation” is justified.