The Second Uprising: End or New Beginning?

This article examines the al-Aqsa intifada against the background of the Oslo accords and the Camp David summit. Comparing its features to those of the first intifada, it analyzes and develops a number of important differences. These include the structure of the clashes themselves, the religious dimension, the role of the settlements, the role of the media, and, most important, the presence on the ground of a Palestinian protostate apparatus and the diminished role of mass organizations and civil society. The authors end with a discussion of emerging trends within Palestinian politics in response to these events.

Rema Hammami is an assistant professor of anthropology at Birzeit University and the coordinator of research at Birzeit's Women's Studies Center. Salim Tamari is the director of IPS's Jerusalem affiliate, the Institute of Jerusalem Studies. The authors wish to thank Beshara Doumani for his critical comments on this article, an earlier version of which appeared in MERIP in December 2000.