Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 16. Al Aqsa Intifada, 2000-2005. The logic of violence, the impact of violence.

Send us Fan MailAl Aqsa Intifada.  The Logic of Violence, the Impact of Violence.  There were two Intifadas. The first began in December, 1987. The second is called the Al Aqsa Intifada and began in September, 2000.  The first involved non-lethal violence on the part of the Palestinians, throwing stones, burning tires. The second was extremely violent.  In both cases, from a Palestinian point of view, the protection of Islam and Islamic Holy Sites was a major motivating force.  The Here are some names and terms you might not know: Names:  Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat, Dennis Ross, Aaron David Miller, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Netanyahu, Anwar Sadat, Colonel Luft, Professor Papp, Marwan Barghouti, Shimon Peres, Sheikh Yassin, Dr. Rantisi. Yitzhak Shamir. . Other terms:  Oslo Accords of 1993, Camp David (Carter and Clinton efforts), IDF (Israeli military)There is an excellent film called Paradise Now. It focuses on the logic of suicide bombing. Menachem Begin wrote a memoir, The Revolt.  It addresses what is terrorism and what is not.  When US forces went into Afghanistan after 9/11 and entered the Al Qaeda camps they were stunned to discover Begin’s  materials on Al Qaeda computers.  I was not surprised.  Begin’s  organization was Irgun. Fatah is Yassir Arafat’s party; Al Aqsa Brigade is a Fatah  military unit. Kill ratio is a term from the Vietnam War.  It means the ratio of our dead to their dead. The kill ratio in first Intifada was 23:1.  23 Palestinians died for every Israeli who died.  Why did I say 23:3?  That makes no sense.  But that kind of glitch happens in the middle of a talk. Note:  I originally delivered two talks on this topic.  This merges the two.