A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, October 1, 2010

Ten Years Since the Second Intifada

Palestinians and Israeli Arabs are using today as a day of protest to mark the outbreak of the second or Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. Though the visit of Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif on September 28 precipitated the violence, today was chosen to mark the anniversary, probably to capitalize on crowds gathering for Friday prayer.

Coming as it did in the wake of the failed Camp David II, the Second Intifada in many ways marked the end of whatever lingering optimism had survived from the Oslo peace process. With peace talks again hanging in the balance, it is a reminder of how fragile the process can be, and how persistent the same issues (settlements, return) are.

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