Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

278 • INTIFADAthe terrorist group or incident into spreading the group’s ideologyand demands, newspapers such as the New York Times and agenciessuch as Reuters would edit their reporting to exclude objectionableor inflammatory content or to edit out particular demands and claimsthat the terrorist group was seeking to publicize through the particularact of armed propaganda. Now, through ingenious and creativeuses of multimedia technology, the terrorists can produce their ownuncensored presentation of their views, demands, and threats usingmusic, text, and video clips of speeches of their leaders, martyrdomtestimonials, attacks, and beheadings, as well as other material thatthe conventional mass media would hesitate or refuse to cover.The most controversial potential use of the Internet by terrorists isthe potential for them to use the Internet itself as a terrorist weaponvia hacking and cyberwarfare attacks to immobilize air traffic controlsystems, power grids, or the electronic component of the internationalsystem of credit and finance. Most cyberwarfare experts regard thehacking, swarming, and denial-of-service attacks of extremist groupsas little more than the electronic equivalent of harassment, graffiti,or vandalism, rather than as bona fide information warfare. GabrielWieman, however, has noted that al Qa’eda computers seized by U.S.troops in Afghanistan have revealed great interest by their operatorsin accessing online instructions on the software and programmingprotocols that control the digital switches that run the power, water,transportation, and communications grids critical to the security andeconomic stability of the United States and other targeted nations.INTIFADA. Intifada (Arabic meaning “uprising, revolt”) refers totwo popular uprisings against Israeli occupation among Palestiniansin the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The first intifada began on 9December 1987 with protests over an automobile accident in theGaza Strip in which an Israeli motorist killed Palestinian pedestrians.While the early stages of the revolt involved youngsters tauntingand throwing stones at Israeli troops, it eventually spread throughoutthe Palestinian population and involved organized demonstrations,civil disobedience, and boycotts of Israeli goods and services. On 28September 2000 a second intifada broke out that involved suicidebombings and more conscious, planned actions by Hamas, IslamicJihad of Palestine, and the newly created al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigadeassociated with al Fatah.