Palestine today is just a few tiny dots on the world map, as if a handful of sand had been scattered. With Zionist terror standing open-mouthed, ready to snatch away even those tiny grains and kill the very last Palestinian, whatever the last ones do, to save their country before they vanish forever, they would still be counted as innocent –Adv. M. Swaraj
Palestine is synonymous with struggle and resistance. There is a history to remember as it battles every moment against Zionist terror. In that history, two brilliant revolutionary struggles of Palestine are inscribed in letters of gold. The word is Intifada, which in Arabic means "uprising."
The struggle for Palestinian liberation represents one of the deepest moral challenges of our era an unceasing fight against Zionist settler colonialism that has, for over a century, systematically displaced, oppressed, and fragmented an indigenous people. Rooted in the violence of Israel's creation through the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe) when Zionist militias expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their homeland this oppression continues through military occupation, apartheid policies, and ethnic cleansing. The Intifadas (popular uprisings) symbolise the Palestinian people's refusal to surrender to this injustice, turning the resistance of ordinary people into a world-renowned courage against colonial imperialism.
The First Intifada (1987–1993) – "Stones Against Tanks"
The First Intifada, born from the crushing weight of harsh occupation and
Zionist expansionism, did not appear out of nowhere. Israel's direct
military rule began after the 1967 Six-Day War, when it occupied the West
Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. For over two decades, Palestinians were
subjected to severe restrictions: arbitrary arrests, land confiscation,
house demolitions, and denial of access to water resources. Above all, every
agitation for their human rights was branded "terrorism" and suppressed.
Israeli settlements in Gaza and the West Bank multiplied, and the percentage
of Palestinian land shrank. These settlements are completely illegal under
international law, as the international community has made clear. They were
used to separate population centres and stifle Palestinian economic growth.
The rights of refugees were utterly ignored.
On 8 December 1987, an Israeli truck crashed into a vehicle carrying
workers from the Jabalia camp in Gaza, killing four Palestinian labourers
instantly. What followed was a spontaneous reaction to prolonged suffering.
But what distinguished this uprising was its character it was not a
conventional armed resistance. Instead, it was a popular struggle.
Students, women's organisations, farmers, and small traders all came
together. Their weapons: stones, the Palestinian flag, the boycott of
Israeli products, refusal to pay taxes, and the fearless confronting of
Israeli soldiers.
A Palestinian woman's words echoed far and wide: "We have no tanks, no
bombs. But we have people power, we have courage, and we have firm faith in
the truth." Israel's response was brutal. The policy of "breaking bones" was
implemented soldiers broke the arms of protesters so they could not throw
stones. Thousands were arrested. Any home that supported the struggle was
demolished. Palestinian hospitals and schools were attacked. Yet, as world
media reached Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli brutality was exposed and
recognised. Even the noted Israeli historian Benny Morris conceded: "All the
writings of 1948 are about ethnic cleansing. It was ethnic cleansing."
The bloodshed of the First Intifada eventually led to negotiations the
secret Oslo peace talks. In 1993, on the White House lawn, the handshake
between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin was watched with hope by the world.
But what actually followed under these accords? The Palestine Liberation
Organisation (PLO) was granted limited "autonomy," while the crucial
questions the rights of refugees, Jerusalem, borders, and settlements
were deferred to "final status" talks. During this very period, Israel was
rapidly expanding settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Within
the first five years after Oslo, the number of settlers rose by 50%. The
Palestinian territories were divided into Areas A, B, and C, turning their
land into tiny, isolated islands and making a viable state impossible.
Palestinians were thrown into confusion. A phrase heard in Palestine at the
time captured it well: "They promised us peace, but they built more houses
on our land. This is nothing but a deception."
The Second Intifada (2000–2005) and the Terror
On 28 September 2000, Ariel Sharon, later Prime Minister protected by
hundreds of Israeli security forces, stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque
compound (Haram al-Sharif) in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site. This
was seen as a massive provocation, signalling Israel's intent to seize
Jerusalem. Peaceful protests were met with excessive force by Israeli
soldiers, eventually sparking the Second Intifada. Unlike the first, this
uprising included armed resistance by groups such as Hamas and Islamic
Jihad. Suicide bombings targeting Israeli soldiers and settlers
occurred.
Israel called this a "war on terrorism," but its response was staggering:
targeted killings of Palestinian leaders using fighter jets, the killing of
civilians with tanks, and large-scale incursions into Gaza and the West
Bank. In 2002, Operation Defensive Shield in the Jenin camp amounted to a
massacre. Israeli tanks and helicopters attacked a densely populated area,
killing innocents, demolishing homes, and blocking medical aid an episode
that came to be known as the "Jenin massacre." Alongside this, Israel
constructed a "security wall" more than 700 kilometres long. This wall
frequently crossed the internationally recognised border to annex parts of
Palestinian land, dividing villages and preventing farmers from reaching
their fields. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that the
wall was illegal under international law.
Amidst this terror, the bravery of the Palestinian people was recorded for
the world to see. In Jenin, an elderly Palestinian woman, standing before an
Israeli tank, declared: "You may have the power to destroy my house, but you
cannot break my spirit. This land is mine, and my grandmother's. I will not
leave." The writer and activist Suheir Hammad wrote: "Intifada is not a
choice; it is a necessity a declaration of our humanity and existence."
The Imprisonment of Gaza and Today's Struggle
In 2005, Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza but maintained
near-total control over its air, land, and sea borders, turning Gaza into
the world's largest open-air prison. After Hamas won the 2006 elections,
Israel and its allies imposed a strict blockade, severely restricting the
entry of food, medicine, fuel, and construction materials. This created a
man-made humanitarian catastrophe. According to the UN, even before the 2023
war, 80% of Gazans depended on aid, the water was undrinkable, and
electricity was available for only a few hours a day.
Under these conditions, the "Great March of Return" protests began in 2018.
Thousands of Palestinians marched to Gaza's border, demanding the right to
return to the homes they had lost in 1948. Israeli soldiers responded by
firing live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators. Over 200 people were
killed and around 36,000 were wounded, drawing the world's attention to the
suffering in Gaza. A young protester said: "They can shoot me with bullets,
but they cannot kill my dream. I will one day see my grandmother's olive
trees."
After Hamas's attack on 7 October 2023, Israel launched an indiscriminate
war on Gaza, displacing millions, killing thousands particularly
children and destroying hospitals, schools, and historical sites. The World
Health Organization described Gaza as a "graveyard." The International Court
of Justice expressed grave concern about the plausible risk of genocide and
ordered Israel to cease acts that could amount to war crimes. Yet the war
and the massacres continue.
The Palestinian struggle is not merely a national struggle it is a
universal struggle for human rights and self-determination, against
colonialism and apartheid. The stones of the Intifadas, the pressure of the
BDS movement, and today's student movements all point to one truth: people
will always rise up against oppression. The racist and colonialist
foundation of Zionism is now laid bare. Even Israel's founder David
Ben-Gurion admitted: "We will not have a peaceful solution. We took the
country… We do not recognise their nationality."
The liberation of the Palestinian people is inevitable. As history proves,
colonialism and apartheid eventually crumble. The resilience and fighting
capacity of the Palestinian people will endure. Mahmoud Darwish’s words
still echo: “What makes life liveable on this land: the colour of olive
trees that begin in April and stand firm… a Palestinian woman’s morning
prayer… the records of a people who do not fear death.” The struggle for
Palestine is a struggle for justice. It will surely win, because truth and
justice never fail. A free Palestine from the river to the sea will one day
exist. It will live.
