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Palestinians called it the Unity Intifada-an unprecedented level of street mobilization spanning communities on both sides of the Green Line. Some villages and towns had not seen such protests since the second intifada, over two decades ago. They erupted as a result of a number of coalescing factors: the expulsion of Palestinian families in parts of East Jerusalem, the restrictions and repeated assaults on Palestinians in the Old City, and then the airstrikes on Gaza.
In the lead-up to and aftermath of the protests, activists were cognizant and intentional about how they framed these shows of unity. These were not explicitly protests in solidarity with one another, but rather Palestinians asserting their national identity and insisting that they all suffered from various manifestations of the same phenomenon: settler colonialism. This insistence could be clearly seen in the organized events that took place, such as the 18 May economic strike and the "consciousness-raising" activities in communities across historical Palestine, intended to highlight the continuity of the Palestinian struggle and link Palestinians from various locations with one another. We saw a number of examples of this phenomenon, from organized tours of Palestinian cities and villages to street markets-all of which were successful in connecting Palestinian communities, from Nazareth to Jenin to Haifa. And while many of the protests were not organized prior to them taking place, but were rather eruptions of anger and frustration, Palestinian activists seized the moment to create popular committees in a number of communities and to call for new ways of resisting the occupation moving forward, free of traditional political institutions such as the political parties or the High Follow-Up Committee.
The level of mobilization and the rejection of traditional politics was what made this moment unique, but it certainly did not come out of the blue. The events of the Unity Intifada, particularly how and where they emerged, are the logical conclusion to the Oslo Accords policies, which have demobilized certain segments of the Palestinian population, on one hand, while inadvertently creating new opportunities for resistance, on the other. This essay will provide context for these mobilization patterns in Palestinian communities within the Green Line, Jerusalem, and the 1967 occupied territories and explain why we saw protests break out in the way...