(sometimes initial capital letter) a revolt begun in December 1987 by Palestinian Arabs to protest Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Origin: 1988; < Ar intifāḍa lit., a shaking off, der. of fāḍa to shake off
in·ti·fa·da also in·ti·fa·dah (ĭn'tə-fä'də) n. An uprising among Palestinian Arabs of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, beginning in late 1987 and continuing sporadically into the early 1990s, in protest against continued Israeli occupation of these territories.
[Arabic intifāḍa, shudder, awakening, uprising, from intifaḍa, to be shaken, wake up, derived stem of nafaḍa, to shake; see np in Semitic roots.]
Arabic for uprising. Starting in 1987, Palestinians have engaged in an intermittent intifada against Israel on the West Bank and Gaza Strip in their pursuit of a Palestinian state.