Palestinian Protests: Differences between Intifada III and Previous Ones

Palestine has been on the verge of a widespread Intifada, which in Arabic means "to shake off".

Photo from two weeks ago in Palestine Photo courtesy: euronews.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - For more than two weeks, the atmosphere in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and other cities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip border is tense and inflamed.

The intensity and extent of unrest in the Palestinian West Bank is increasingly high and has been making the Israeli regime more confused than ever.

The mediation of the United States and the United Nations and Abu Mazen [a nickname for Mahmoud Abbas] to intercede and calm the situation has not been effective.

Some analysts believe these condition have paved the ground for the third Palestinian Intifada which has a process and conditions different from those of ​​two previous ones. The differences are observed in conditions and the balance of power in various developments.

Some of the distinguished features of the current Intifada that make it different from the previous Intifadas include:

First, changes in Israel's situation which, due to its weakness, isolation and mismanagement, have resulted in an unprecedented political and military predicament for this regime.

Second, another feature of this Intifada has to do with Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian National Authority and his security services and his willingness to coordinate security with the usurping regime of Israel for continued occupation and persistence of construction of Jewish settlements and Judaizing of al-Quds and opposition to any attempt for protest or popular uprising.

Third, the escalation of conflicts in the region, and also among the Arab countries has sparked off a wave of unrest; therefore, the US cannot take the leading role to control the events.

Last but not least is the fact that this Intifada has no commander or control center. In fact, it is a totally spontaneous uprising of the Palestinian people which was caused by an oppressive security environment and years of subjugation.

In the meantime, it is important that this time the Israeli regime is not facing any political group that may directly manage, lead or command the uprising, so that the Israeli regime can put an end to the controversy through repression or arresting its members and leaders.

However, the serious decision of the people in Al-Quds, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the occupied territories to do Intifada and put up widespread resistance with light weapons and in a spontaneous manner is the basic similarity of the third Intifada to previous ones.

On the other hand, due to frequent military and political defeats of Netanyahu and his extensive propaganda against some countries of the region, he has been under pressure, and some extremist groups in Palestine have attributed the political failure of Netanyahu to isolation of the Zionist regime, and that's why he tried to seize the chance and remove the internal pressure and gain the political and field initiatives.

However, due to inexcusable acts of violence by the Zionist army and the counter-attacks of the Palestinians, Netanyahu does not seem to have reached his illegitimate goals. On the contrary, Palestine has been on the verge of a widespread Intifada for some time.

In such circumstances, in addition to solidarity among Arab and Islamic countries, and despite domestic conflicts in the Arab countries, efforts should be made to increase solidarity among the public opinion of the Arab and European countries with the Palestinian people in particular, and also in opposition to Israeli policies.

This factor can put pressure on Netanyahu, his cabinet and the Israeli army, and make way for the success of the Intifada in the next few months if it is strong enough to keep going.