The student antiwar protests, with their Palestinian flags and denouncements of Zionism, provoked university administrators to call in the police and politicians to call hearings to investigate charges of antisemitism on college campuses.
At an April hearing in the House, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was asked by Republican Rep. Lisa McClain whether phrases such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “long live intifada” are antisemitic. Ms. Shafik responded that while she personally objects to these words, other people hear them differently.
This episode of History As It Happens delves into the meaning and history of intifada in the Palestinian context. Khaled Elgindy, an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the Middle East Institute, says the word is Arabic for “uprising” or “shaking off.”
“Intifada has a number of different contexts. In its base usage it means uprising, violent or nonviolent. It is a rebellion against some form of oppression,” said Mr. Elgindy, who said the nonviolent protests of the Arab Spring in Egypt and Tunisia were considered intifadas. Palestinians have revolted twice against the Israeli military occupation since 1967.
The First Intifada began in 1987 and the Second Intifada in 2000. Both were violent, but the second uprising involved terrorism by Hamas suicide bombers. The first revolt is remembered by images of Palestinian children throwing stones at Israeli soldiers, as well as boycotts, strikes and rioting.
SEE ALSO: History As It Happens: What is Zionism?
History As It Happens is available at washingtontimes.com or wherever you find your podcasts.
