T
he Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the longest and most complex and controversial wars of modern
times. And the Second Intifada – the First Intifada occurred from 1987 to 1993 - is one of the most controversial episodes within that conflict. Also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada [Intifada is an Arabic word which translates as ‘shaking-off’, and in this sense refers to shaking off the occupation by Israel] after the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount in Jerusalem, even the exact start date – in late September 2000 - is disputed. Many sources cite the catalyst as being future Israeli Prime Minister, then leader of the Likud Party, Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount on 28 September 2000, where he declared the site would be under perpetual Israeli control. The Temple Mount is the third holiest site in Islam, and holiest in Judaism. However, most sources purport that the Intifada began after months of mounting tension and violent incidents stemming from failed peace talks at Camp David under the auspices of the US government, where serious attempts to form an independent Palestinian state fell apart – resulting in then Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Yassir Arafat walking out on the talks. During the Intifada, widespread
violence occurred on both sides of the conflict, with an increase in the number of Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli targets and guerrilla warfare. A notable Palestinian tactic from this time is the development of the Qassam rocket by militant group Hamas. Qassams are still fired into Israel from Gaza to this day. Israeli tactics included targeted killings of militants, destruction of suicide bombers’ homes, increased checkpoints and roadblocks, fatal shootings of demonstrators and mass detentions. The exact end date of the 2nd Intifada is also ambiguous and disputed. Some commentators attribute late 2004 with the death of Arafat to the ending of the uprising. Also in 2004, Israel announced its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which was completed in August 2005. In February 2005, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, during the Sharm El-Sheikh summit, that the PA would mark the end of the Intifada and agreed a mutual truce with then Israeli PM Sharon. By this time, four and half years since it began, the Intifada had claimed
August 2010 Aviationsecurityinternational
between 3,000 and 5,000 (exact figures are disputed) Palestinian and around 1,000 Israeli lives as well as those of 64 foreign nationals. Hostilities and violence have
continued on both sides in the five years since the end of the 2nd Intifada: rocket attacks into Israel have continued; Hamas captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006 and are still holding him, and Israel has taken more severe measures against the Palestinian Territories in recent years: the siege of Gaza since June 2007 following Israel’s withdrawal from the territory and Hamas subsequently taking power; the continuing development of the West Bank security barrier and Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s intense bombardment of Gaza in December 2008 / January 2009.
The Palestinian cause and the global threat to aviation One year after the outbreak of the 2nd Intifada, al-Qaeda introduced itself to the world at large with its 9/11 attacks on the United States. A new type of terrorism was born and the aviation industry found itself at the heart of widespread, never before seen, counter-terrorism measures. All the major attempts and plots against
civil aviation since 9/11 have been carried out in the name of al-Qaeda: Briton Richard Reid’s ‘shoe bomb’ attempt in December 2001; the attempted downing with a MANPAD of an Israeli charter flight in Mombasa, Kenya in November 2002; the liquid bomb plot against transatlantic flights in August 2006; the Glasgow Airport attack in June 2007 and the attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day 2009. In October 2001, al-Qaeda leader Osama
Bin Laden released his first message after 9/11, in which he stated that America shall have no security until Palestine has it and he also referenced the oppression and suffering of Palestinians at the hands of Israel. Although the al-Qaeda leadership has cited the Palestinian cause in other recorded messages – for example in 2008, deputy al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called upon sympathisers to attack Jews both inside and outside of Israel - it has never placed Palestine at the centre of its ideology, let alone the 2nd Intifada specifically. To view Palestine as being at the
“
...to view Palestine as being at the heart of al-Qaeda policy is erroneous and the group’s activity within the Palestinian territories and Israel has been non-existent...”
heart of al-Qaeda policy is erroneous and the group’s activity within the Palestinian territories and Israel has been non-existent. This can be explained by the group’s greater focus on attacking the US and its allies, and in the post 9/11 ‘War on Terror’ theatres of Iraq and Afghanistan. It may also be down to its complicated relationship with Hamas, the Islamist party currently in control of Gaza. Given that followers of Islam around the world sympathise with their fellow Muslims in Palestine, extremists use Palestine as a call to arms. But Palestine is a political and land struggle comprising Palestinian Muslims and Christians against the Jewish state, not merely Muslims against Jews.
Israel’s vulnerability to aerial and rocket attacks Israel is geographically a very narrow country, with the distance between its Mediterranean coast and the Jordan River – which demarcates its inland border - being only 40 nautical miles. Brigadier-General Udi Dekel, writing for the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, in a June 2010 report, stated that a combat aircraft could fly across the country in just four minutes and that an aircraft could fly into Israel from the Jordan Valley and reach Jerusalem in less than two minutes. He stated that a hostile plane – such as a commercial airline hijacked and used as a guided missile as on 9/11 - would have to be shot down at least 10 nautical miles east of the city or it would crash into population centres. During the 2nd Intifada, Hamas
developed a simple steel artillery rocket which they called the Qassam. Palestinian militant groups have fired thousands of Qassams from Gaza into southern Israel in the nine years since the start of the 2nd
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