Israel: The New Blood of Palestine
30 minutes, 2003
Ref: 159

We look at the emergence of new, young Palestinian leaders who want to reform and democratise the current power structure in Palestine. The intifada is not only a battle against Israeli occupation, but a revolt by Palestinians against their own government and its leadership. They are frustrated by Yasser Arafat's inability to broker a satisfactory peace deal and infuriated by the leadership enriching itself at the expense of the poor. The new gun is the leader of the West Bank intifada, who unlike much of the Palestinian leadership, was born in the Occupied Territories. We meet this tough talking leader whose style resonates with Palestinians of the street. He has a secret army which he has grown into a separate power base which operates at all levels of society to ensure support for the intifada. He has also declared an alternative intifada government which has been joined by the hardline Palestinian Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.