Myth: The phrase “globalize the Intifada” is not a call for violence

In the context of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, an “Intifada” implies bloody violence and calls for the death and murder of Jewish Israelis – civilian or otherwise.  

Calls to “Globalize the Intifada” are not calls for civil disobedience, general strikes, or negotiations. They are calls for the murder of Israelis and Jews around the world and must be taken seriously by governments and law enforcement agencies.  

“Intifada” is an Arabic word meaning “uprising” or “rebellion.” It generally refers to two specific outbreaks of violence: the First Intifada, which lasted from 1987 to 1991; and the Second Intifada, from 2000 to approximately 2005.  

The First Intifada erupted in December 1987. It is widely regarded to have been sparked by an unfortunate traffic accident in which an Israeli army truck collided with a car, killing four Palestinian workers. Despite objective evidence of this being an accident, Palestinians claimed it was a purposeful targeting of Palestinian civilians. The rumour spread, and, gradually, civil disobedience, protests, and violence by the Palestinian population ensued. The First Intifada was marked by the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails by Palestinian youths against the IDF. There were also widespread economic boycotts by the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The violence of the First Intifada resulted in almost 200 Israeli casualties and almost 2,000 Palestinian casualties. The violent uprising resulted in a significant change to the status quo in Gaza and the West Bank. It ended with the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991, which eventually led to the Oslo Peace Process beginning in 1993.  

The Second Intifada erupted in September 2000. Documentation collected from Yasser Arafat’s compound at the time proved that the plan for a violent uprising against the Israelis had been in the works for months, if not years. Unlike the First Intifada, the Second was marked less by civil disobedience and more by blood and destruction. Palestinian suicide bombers were deployed by Arafat’s Fatah party (and their militant arm, the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade), as well as by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations. Soon after the start of the Second Intifada, a pair of Israelis accidentally ended up in Ramallah, where they were lynched by a Palestinian crowd before their bodies were tossed out the windows of a building. Over the course of five years, suicide bombers targeted civilians throughout Israel, including in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, at cafés, restaurants, hotels, wedding ceremonies, shopping malls, nightclubs, and bus stations.  

While the word “intifada” might mean “uprising,” in practice it is violence against Jews. Calls for “Intifada” on the streets of Canada, or elsewhere, should always be understood as such.