Middle East Conflict Primary Sources | Comminiqué No. 1 of the Intifada

Excerpt from Comminiqué No. 1 of the Intifada (January 8, 1988)

Issued by Unified National Leadership (UNL)
Reprinted in Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Edited by Charles D. Smith
Published in 2001

"We continue to be loyal to the pure blood martyrs and to our detained brothers. We also reiterate our rejection of the occupation and its policy of repression...."

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip were captured by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and then occupied by Israeli military forces. These Occupied Territories, as they came to be known, were already home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and many more Palestinians moved there to live in refugee camps as a result of the war.

After taking over the territories, the Israeli government maintained strict control over the Palestinians living there. Israel determined who had...