Palestinian Struggle: Late 19th Century To First Intifada

           Palestinian artist Heba Zagout's  artwork  "Jerusalem is My City"   

Palestine, from 1516 to 1918, was a part of the Ottoman Empire, administratively integrated into the provinces of Greater Syria (Bilad Al-Sham).

By the late 19th century, the political and social dynamics in Palestine started changing fundamentally. Two parallel but contradicting movements were taking shape in two different regions of the world, Arab independence in the Middle East and Political Zionism in Europe, which would later decisively shape Palestine's blood-soaked future through prolonged violence and occupation.

In the late 19th century, with the weakening Ottoman Empire and hence the increased centralisation of Ottoman rule, European economic and political interventions fueled the demand for Arab independence. During this time, the spread of education, print culture, and exposure to European ideas gave rise to Arab nationalism, emphasizing a shared Arab language, culture, history, and unity.

On the other hand, in Europe, amid growing antisemitism and the persecution of Jews, a modern nationalist movement advocating the establishment of a Jewish state emerged, known as Zionism. This Zionist ideology spread a rhetoric of a "return" of Jews to their homeland ("return to Zion"), which was identified as the area of Palestine.

Although this Zionist movement was officially established by Theodor Herzl at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, Jewish emigration to Palestine had already begun in the 1880s under the influence of Zionist ideas. Despite Ottoman restrictions limiting emigration, Zionist institutions were still able to evade the restrictions to purchase land, often from absentee feudal lords, which resulted in the displacement of Palestinian peasants. Some Zionist factions promoted exclusive Jewish settlement, denying any possibility of coexistence. By the early 20th century, militant and revisionist factions of Zionism had also emerged, openly endorsing the use of armed force for territorial expansion.

 

WWI and the British Promise of Arab Independence

 

Britain used Arab sentiment as a tool to weaken the Ottomans during WWI.

In 1916, through the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, Britain promised support for an independent Arab state in return for a revolt against the Ottomans. This led to the Arab Revolt of 1916. Arab fighters fought against the Ottomans along with British forces and defeated them. With this victory, Arabs were dreaming of an independent state, ending centuries of imperial rule, until their dream was shattered by the British.

Britain, betraying the promise of Arab independence, secretly signed a treaty with France in the same year, keeping Arab leaders oblivious. This treaty was known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, fragmenting Arab lands to pave the way for the establishment of European colonial rule. Further escalating the betrayal, in 1917, the British government announced the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain pledged support for the establishment of a Jewish "national home" in Palestine without consulting the indigenous Palestinian population.

After the war, Arab territories were brought directly under the League of Nations Mandate system, where Britain gained the mandate over Palestine in 1922. Palestine was denied any means of self-governance. Instead, British rule facilitated Zionist immigration and the formation of political institutions, whereas Palestinian Arabs were denied political rights. This state sponsorship empowered Zionism, transforming this ideological movement into a state-backed settler-colonial project.

Under British sponsorship, the factions within the Zionist movement became increasingly radical and militarized. Meanwhile, Palestinian resistance intensified in response to displacement, political exclusion, and occupation. Initially, Palestinians pursued peaceful means of resistance, including petitions and strikes demanding representative government and limits on Zionist immigration. However, these demands were rejected by British rule through measures such as arrests, repression, and collective punishment.

Later, the growing agitation of Palestinian resistance and its repression burst into the Arab Revolt of 1936–1939, the largest anti-colonial movement in Palestine. It started as a general strike and then transformed into an armed struggle against both British rule and the Zionist movement. Britain responded with overwhelming military force, deploying tens of thousands of troops, destroying villages, executing and imprisoning Palestinian leaders, and dismantling political organizations. Zionist militias cooperated with British forces, which helped in arming, training, and strengthening their factions. By the end of the revolt, Palestine was severely weakened, with a damaged economy, political leadership, and destroyed armed strength. Meanwhile, Zionist institutions became highly organized, militarized, and gained international support.

During WWII, Britain further relied on Zionist cooperation, helping its militant factions expand, train, and arm themselves. More radical factions emerged, adopting openly militant and terrorist tactics targeting Palestinian civilians. By the mid-1940s, Zionist militias had formed a disciplined military force with intelligence networks and arms supplies.

After WWII, Britain, exhausted politically and economically, sought to withdraw from Palestine. Being unable to reconcile the two contradicting elements, Palestinian demand for independence and Zionist demand for statehood, Britain referred the matter to the United Nations.

In 1947, the UN proposed a partition plan which would divide the land of Palestine into a separate Jewish state and an Arab state. The pro-Zionist plan proposed to allocate 56 percent of the land to the Jewish state, while the Palestinian Arab population was twice the Jewish population. Palestinians rejected the plan, pointing to it as unjust and a violation of their political rights over their motherland and of national self-determination in the UN Charter. They also indicated their unwillingness to accept any form of territorial division. On the other hand, Zionists accepted the plan tactically, viewing it as a stepping stone to territorial expansion.

Following the UN vote in 1947, violence quickly escalated across Palestine. Palestinian Arabs, though largely unarmed and politically fragmented, tried to resist the Zionist advance. They organized local militias and popular uprisings to defend towns and villages. However, Zionist militias were better organized, trained, and armed, giving them a decisive advantage.

One of the most notorious incidents was the Deir Yassin massacre on April 9, 1948, where more than 100 Palestinian civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, were killed. News of this atrocity spread panic among Palestinian communities, causing mass flight. Similar massacres and forced expulsions occurred in Safsaf, Tantura, Lydda, and Ramle, resulting in hundreds to thousands of civilian deaths.

By the time Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, an estimated 750,000 Palestinians had been displaced, becoming refugees who fled to Gaza, the West Bank, and surrounding Arab territories, and over 500 villages were destroyed.

In 1948, the Arab-Israeli War broke out immediately after Israel’s declaration of independence, as neighboring Arab countries like Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon sent forces to defend Palestinians and prevent territorial loss. Despite this intervention, Zionist forces, with better organization, arms, and support from Britain and other international allies, gradually gained control over most of the territory. During autumn 1948, increased expulsions and massacres occurred, such as the depopulation of Beersheba on October 21, the al-Dawayima massacre on October 29, and the Safsaf massacre, also on October 29.

In October, Israel transformed the ad hoc military administrations governing Palestinian Arabs into a centralized military government, implying the imposition of direct military rule over the Palestinians who remained inside its new borders.

By the end of the war in 1949, Israel occupied about 78 percent of Palestine, far beyond the 56 percent allocated to the Jewish state in the UN Partition Plan. This expansion was achieved through military campaigns, village destruction, and the systematic expulsion of Palestinian communities. Palestinians lost their homes, land, and livelihoods, while Israel consolidated its control over these territories.

The events from 1947 to 1949 are known as the Nakba. During this period, over 70 massacres were documented, approximately 15,000 Palestinians were killed in a series of mass atrocities and massacres carried out by Zionist occupation forces, and 530 villages were destroyed and depopulated.

Hence, the seizure of 78 percent of Palestinian land by Israel was not granted peacefully, as it was occupied through war, expulsions, and destruction resulting in mass casualties. The Nakba was not an unintended result of war but a systematic process of displacement, or to be precise, "ethnic cleansing", that transformed Palestinians into refugees in their own land and stripped them of their rights over their motherland, human rights, and dignity.

 

Struggle: 1949 onwards

 

The remaining 22 percent of Palestinian land consists of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The West Bank was annexed by Jordan in 1950 and controlled by the Jordanian monarchy, and the Gaza Strip was under Egyptian military administration and controlled by military rule. Therefore, Palestinians were ruled by Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Independence remained a dream for Palestinians, and the struggle continued, entering a new phase.

In the 1950s, Israel started consolidating the lands that it seized. Refugee properties were taken under laws such as the Absentees' Property Law, transferring Palestinian lands to the Israeli settler state and its institutions. The Nakba left the Palestinians devastated, followed by military and monarchical rule of external forces that weakened Palestinian resistance. Only scattered resistance existed, and Palestinians lacked an organized national leadership during that period.

During the early 1960s, resistance grew stronger, and Palestinians started reorganizing politically. In 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization was formed to represent Palestinians and demand national liberation. Groups like Fatah emphasized armed struggle as a means to reclaim Palestinian rights.

The situation took another turn in 1967 with the outbreak of the Six-Day War, when Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Egypt, while Jordan and Syria joined Egypt to fight Israel. The war resulted in an Israeli victory, occupying the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and another 300,000 Palestinians were displaced. Palestinian areas were brought under Israeli military administration, and Palestinians were governed through military orders. This occupation marked a decisive shift, as the remaining 22 percent of Palestine was brought under Israeli control, deepening Palestinian statelessness and denying the possibility of an independent Palestinian state.

The 1967 occupation marked the beginning of an apartheid system, in which Israeli citizens lived under Israeli civil law, while Palestinians were ruled by Israeli military law, confined to disconnected enclaves, subjected to arbitrary arrests, stripped of freedom of movement, and denied control over resources, while Israeli settlements expanded on Palestinian lands.

By the early 1970s, Palestinian resistance grew stronger, and Palestinians increasingly organized themselves politically and militarily. The Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Yasser Arafat, emerged as the main representative of the Palestinian people. The organization aimed to reclaim Palestinian rights through armed struggle and international diplomacy.

 

The First Intifada (1987–1993)

 

In 1987, a spontaneous mass uprising known as the First Intifada erupted in the West Bank and Gaza. The First Intifada was a popular movement including general strikes, boycotts, stone-throwing protests, and community self-organization. Israel responded with harsh military force, including mass arrests, curfews, beatings, and killings. Thousands of Palestinians were injured or killed, and tens of thousands were imprisoned.

The Intifada transformed the Palestinian struggle, drawing international attention to the Palestinian cause. It exposed the realities of occupation and forced Israel and the international community to recognize the Palestinian struggle and Palestinians as people with political rights and self-determination, not just refugees in need of aid.

During this time, as a consequence of the First Intifada, Israel faced growing international pressure, while the Palestine Liberation Organization was weakened after the Gulf War in 1991. In 1993, secret negotiations took place between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in Oslo, Norway, leading to the Oslo I Accord, formally titled the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements. Both sides agreed to pursue a peace process through negotiations rather than armed struggle. This culminated in the famous handshake between Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in September 1993.

Israel officially recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinian people, and the organization recognized Israel’s right to exist. Both sides agreed to pursue a peace process through negotiations rather than armed struggle. The Oslo Accord promised the creation of the Palestinian Authority as an interim self-governing body, limited Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza, and a five-year transitional period. However, crucial issues were deliberately postponed, such as Palestinian statehood, claims over Jerusalem, refugees and the right of return, Israeli settlements, borders, and sovereignty.

In 1995, as part of the Oslo Accord, the West Bank was fragmented into three parts. Around 18 percent of the West Bank was under Palestinian civil and security control, around 22 percent was under Palestinian civil control but Israeli security control, and the remaining 60 to 61 percent was under full Israeli control. This unjust and extremely unequal fragmentation divided Palestinian territory into disconnected enclaves, severely limiting proper self-governance.

Therefore, the Oslo Accord did not address fundamental issues such as self-determination, the expansion of illegal settlements, and the dual legal regime, or the apartheid. Although presented as a peace process, Oslo did not end the occupation. Israeli settlement expansion accelerated during the Oslo years. Israel retained control over borders, airspace, water, movement, and security. The Palestinian Authority became responsible for administration and policing while lacking sovereignty, as it became dependent on Israeli approvals. This led Palestinians to view Oslo as managing the occupation rather than dismantling it.

 

And the Palestinian struggle continued...

 

Despite displacement, siege, and repeated assaults, most devastatingly the “genocide” in Gaza from 2023 by Israeli forces, which has killed nearly 70,000 Palestinians, including approximately 20,000 innocent children, the Palestinian struggle has endured. It is not merely a struggle over land, but over justice and the fundamental right to exist with dignity and equality. Standing in the 21st century, Palestine has become a global symbol of resistance and resilience.

As the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish wrote,

"...On this land, we have what makes life worth living..."