What is an intifada?
In English, the word intifada is often translated as a "rebellion" or "uprising," but the original meaning in Arabic is closer to "shaking off" or "getting rid of" someone or something. When intifada is used in the context of the decades of fighting between the Palestinians and Israelis, it means an organized, both grassroots- and politically-backed uprising of local Palestinians against the Israeli military. The opposing sides already fought two such conflicts. The first one started in 1987 and ended in 1993, and the second one, far bloodier, broke out in 2000 and lasted for over four years.
Angered over Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy to from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the militant Palestinian group Hamas is now calling for a third intifada.
Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital. However, Palestinian officials also claim that East Jerusalem, currently occupied by Israel, should become the capital of a future Palestinian state. Moving the US embassy to Israel in Jerusalem is seen as the US openly taking Israel's side.
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