intifada

noun

in·​ti·​fa·​da ˌin-tə-ˈfä-də 

plural intifadas

: uprising, rebellion

specifically : an armed uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip

I was a college student at Tufts University in December 1987, when the first Palestinian intifada began.

—Hady Amr

… in 2000, the second intifada struck with the force of an earthquake. As Palestinians fought Israeli troops, the West Bank became all but ungovernable.

—Karen E. Lange

Examples of intifada in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

With the outbreak of the second intifada a few years later, the assassinations ramped up, and in 2004, Israel killed Hamas’s founder, Ahmed Yassin. —Audrey Kurth Cronin, Foreign Affairs, 3 June 2024

Between 1949 and now, including the intifadas of the 1990s and early 2000s and the Oct. 7 atrocities, 4,890 civilians have died in terror attacks. —Efrem Sigel, New York Daily News, 25 Jan. 2024

His rite of passage had begun in 1989, two years after the first intifada erupted, protesting Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. —Adam Sella, New York Times, 26 May 2024

But at any moment the situation could become even more volatile, resulting in the next intifada. —Mark Mazzetti Jonathan Davis Anna Diamond David Mason, New York Times, 16 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Arabic intifāḍa, literally, the act of shaking off

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

intifada

noun

in·​ti·​fa·​da ˌint-ə-ˈfäd-ə 

: uprising, rebellion

Etymology

Arabic intifāda, literally, "the act of shaking off"