The Palestinian Intifada Revisited

In this book, fully revised and updated since its first publication in 1991, Andrew Rigby addresses this gap through a detailed study of the dynamics of the first Palestinian intifada. The focus throughout is upon how Palestinians experienced the years of active resistance, both in relation to protest on the streets and in seeking to create alternative institutions and practices intended to undermine the foundations of the Israeli occupation. The hopes that drove the intifada were ultimately frustrated – not least because in the final analysis the Israeli occupation did not depend on the cooperation of the Palestinians in order to persist. In such circumstances, which have not changed fundamentally over the years, the key leverage over the occupiers continues to lie with those states and agencies upon whose support Israel depends as it continues to deny basic human rights to millions of Palestinians living under occupation.