(Arabic for “shaking off”) Also known as the Al-Aqsa (Aksa or ‘Aqsa) Intifada or the Armed Intifada. It refers to the Palestinian uprising against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, which began in September 2000, two months after the failure of the Camp David (II) Summit and immediately following Ariel Sharon’s provocative police-escorted visit to the politically and religiously charged Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem. The Second Intifada began with and was comprised of mass rallies, general strikes and various other unarmed and nonviolent strategies. However, it  was not centrally organized, faced strong Israeli military opposition, and later included suicide bombings and the use of arms by Palestinians. There is a debate about the character of the uprising and its leadership. Israel claims the overall character was mostly violent and that the Palestinian Authority ultimately supported the killings of Israeli soldiers and civilians. Others claim the Second Intifada had a prominent nonviolent character that was overlooked by mainstream media, with local Palestinian communities organizing predominantly nonviolent actions to combat the expropriation of Palestinian land by Jewish Israeli settlements and the Separation Barrier; Israeli and international civilians were also involved in many of these nonviolent actions. Though no clear change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories was visible, some see the Second Intifada as ending with Arafat’s death in November 2004, while others say it ended as late as 2008. For statistics of Palestinians and Israelis killed during the Second Intifada as well as a selected timeline of events, see “Intifada toll 2000-2005.” BBC. 8 February 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3694350.stm; and “Al-Aqsa Intifada timeline.” 29 Sept 2004. BBC News Online. 21 July 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3677206.stm. For various views of the intentions behind the Second Intifada, see Elmer, Jon. “Remembering the second intifada.” 31 October 2010. http://english.aljazeera.net/photo_galleries/middleeast/2010103132115872256.html; and “Four Years of Conflict: Israel’s war Against terrorism.” 3 October 2004. Israeli Ministry of Foreign. 21 July 2011. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Terrorism+and+Islamic+Fundamentalism-/Four+Years+of+Conflict+3-Oct-2004.htm. For information about nonviolent resistance during the Second Intifada, see Hallward, Maia Carter and Julie M. Norman, eds. Nonviolent Resistance in the Second Intifada: Activism and Advocacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2011.  http://www.justvision.org/glossary/second-intifada