A Concise History of the Middle East

406 • 20 THE GULF WAR AND THE PEACE PROCESS

civilian Iraqis. The embargo on Iraq was increasingly resented in the Mid¬

dle East. By 2001, most Arab states, Turkey, and Iran were trading with

Iraq as though the sanctions had been lifted. No outsider ever found

stockpiles of biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons in Iraq, and from

1998 to 2002 the UN inspectors could not even enter the country.

Kuwait promptly extinguished its burning oil fields and rebuilt its econ¬

omy. It held parliamentary elections in 1992, although it still did not let

women vote or extend citizenship rights to foreign workers. Most Palestini¬

ans who had built up its economy were exiled (without their property) and

not readmitted. Their jobs were taken by Egyptians and other nationals.

PALESTINIANS AND THE PEACE PROCESS

In the 1990s, what we have been calling the "Arab-Israeli conflict" became

the "Palestinian-Israeli conflict." Israel's backers used to blame the prob¬

lem on the refusal of the Arab states to recognize the Jewish state. Well,

Egypt recognized Israel in 1979. Jordan did so in 1994. The Palestinians,

however, remained victims of the conflict. Was this because certain Arab

governments, such as Lebanon, refused to absorb them? Other Arab states,

like Jordan, granted the Palestinians citizenship and employment. Before

the Gulf War many Palestinians found high-paying jobs in countries like

Kuwait. Some Palestinians under Israeli control did thrive, but most suf¬

fered from military occupation, annexation of their lands, and discrimina¬

tion. In neither case were the Palestinian people really absorbed, politically

or economically. What has happened, and why?

The First Intifada

The story began in December 1987 with a small uprising of Gaza children
and teenagers against Israel's occupying army. It soon spread throughout
the occupied areas, adding an Arabic word to the world's stock of terms
for "rebellion." The Palestinians under Israeli occupation became more co¬
ordinated in their opposition and more effective in refuting Israel's claim
that most of them were happy and prosperous under its rule. The youthful
stonings and tire burnings that launched their intifada (which literally
means "shaking off") made everyone see their distress, but their strongest
ploy was to boycott Israeli manufactures, such as soap, cigarettes, and fab¬
rics. Some Palestinians who used to go to Israel to work for higher wages
than they could earn in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank stayed home. One