On the intifada’s distinction and uniqueness

It has reached its twentieth day and vigour is still its clearest characteristic. It is still clawing its way through the boulders that stand in its difficult path, so all predictions of surrender and disappointment are invalid.

The Jerusalem Intifada is like none of the past intifadas, even though it is still too early to judge its potential to continue. However, there is no doubt that it is the foundation of a new phase, before which we are automatically finding ourselves. The elites of the new generation are spearheading this with their popular actions, their knife war and their scarce supply of bullets.

A few days ago, US President Barack Obama made a statement that Israel has the right to defend itself in the face of what he called “random violence”. It seems very clear that the randomness of this violence, or “terrorism”, is the secret of the intifada and will ensure that it continues and that its moral influence will spread amongst the masses.

The occupation state is unable to take any action to deter the wave of knives, hit-and-runs and gunfire in the occupied Palestinian cities. Its attempts to increase its intelligence efforts has not helped it reveal the intentions of those carrying out such operations and the security coordination has not been enough to expose the resistance cells consisting of one individual each. These cells plan and execute their campaigns once they have chosen a time and place. The place can be anywhere in Palestine, and the map of operations has spread across the country with heroes from all over Palestine.

These characteristics have allowed this new intifada to stand out as unique, thus confounding the occupation in an unprecedented manner. This is because it broke out at a specific time; a time when the occupation was reassured that calmness has prevailed amongst the Palestinians, and when the project of security cooperation and coordination between the PA and the occupation had made great strides in weakening the resistance, both culturally and physically. At least this is what they thought.

In this intifada, there is no room for talk about two states for two peoples or for demanding a settlement that only stops the Israeli aggression, as today, Palestine in its entirety is present in this sudden and unique action, and the spirit of jihad and sacrifice are present across the country, reaching areas the occupation never expected to be reached by fire.

In this intifada, weapons were introduced early on as a means of resistance, and the sacrificing Palestinians proved that a scarcity of automatic weapons would not deter those with strong will and those who are aware of their roles. Meanwhile, the occupation confirmed its most distinct features, i.e. cowardice, panic and their regression when faced with great men, even when their advanced weaponry is faced with a lone knife, and even when their bodies are protected by shields and helmets.

The most important question remains: If the chaos and confusion that has struck the occupation’s society and government was caused by a few knives and bullets, what would their situation be if more advanced weaponry were introduced into the battle or if they were available to anyone willing to sacrifice their lives?

Translated from Felesteen, 19 October 2015.

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Palestinian worshippers perform Friday prayer on a street near the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound. Also some Palestinians are seen taking cover as they protest Israeli authorities prevent men under 40 years old from entering the mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem on October 16, 2015. Images by Anadolu Agency.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.