Memory of First Intifada – Hebron

I recently asked my uncle to dig up this old VHS tape from 1991 during the first Palestinian intifada. The uprising, from the late 1980s until the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, was a time of national unity against the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank. Many believe it led to the beginnings of progress towards peace (which never did end up materializing, at least not on a permenant basis).

In contrast, the second intifada, or the Al Aqsa intifada, from September 2000 until about 2005, brought the beginnings of the current day inter-factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas, more Israeli checkpoints, more illegal settlements in the West Bank, and a new level of despair that the world will ever see a Palestinian state.

Here, then, is the clip from 1991. A young man is caught and beaten by Israeli soldiers in Hebron. Watch as he looks left, looks right, and……