Palestinian uprisings have always been a mirror, reflecting the degradation and fragmentation in which the Arab and Muslim world is entrenched. The failure of the political leadership of the Middle East to assist the Palestinian revolution of 1936 is a time in history that should not be forgotten. Once again, Arab and Muslim leaders are following the same pattern of expressing anger in written form, and then bashfully standing aside to see what will become of the disgustingly unbalanced war, as youngsters battle tanks and missiles with rocks and handguns.

Will the Intifada of 2000 be any different than the Intifada of 1987? Perhaps not in its style and tactics, but in its geopolitical reach and in the impact it may have on the political perception in the Arab World toward Israel, the United States and the so-called peace process. Such effects are already evident, even though the newest Intifada is still in its newborn stages.

If the early phase of the Intifada could be described with one word, it would be "unity". Beginning in the streets, Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have never experienced a greater sense of oneness since long before the installment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a middleman between the Palestinian people and Israel.

Not only were Palestinians distant from their own leadership, but they were also distant from one another, and a class-based society immediately emerged. The rich and the poor, the politically influential and the politically undermined, even the oppressed and oppressor were all phenomena that were little familiar to a nation that prided itself in its common cause and having a common enemy. But these barriers, which were created by years of PA impotence and lack of clear vision, suddenly, went up in smoke, or perhaps were shattered by Israel's random shelling. The Intifada is once more sweeping the Palestinian people with change, reorganizing its priorities and forcing the PA to move more toward its people. Following massive protests in the Gaza Strip during the "day of rage", a meeting in Gaza took place, including almost every Palestinian faction, party or movement leader. This meeting was the Intifada's most vital achievement, reuniting the Palestinian front.

But the celebration of oneness barely stopped there, as it spilled over into Palestinian towns as well as villages within Israel, reshaping the geopolitical arrangements of the area once more, and symbolically removing the Green Line, a myth that was instituted by Israel to separate the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza from their brethren. The Palestinian blood poured in Nazareth, Um Al Fahim, Kufr Qarih, and elsewhere, and the nearly dozen martyrs and scores of wounded were an extension of the Intifada in the West Bank and Gaza. They were all Palestinians and they all died for a common cause in a way that reemphasized their everlasting unity, despite decades of systematic geographic separation dictated by Israel.

The Palestinian blood however, was too great to be constrained by borders or political affiliations. When the disharmony of the Arab and Muslim world was thought to be the expected path for many years to come, the Intifada came as a scream of anger and a chant of unity that was heard not only throughout the Arab world but also throughout the giant body of the Muslim world, and by Muslim communities and their friends all over the globe.

The Gulf War and the sanctions imposed on Iraq thereafter divided Arab and Muslim nations into blocks and political camps. The already existent Arab fragmentation was widening, and the gap suffered constant growth. During one decade of deadly sanctions on Iraq, US aggression on Sudan and Afghanistan in 1998, the Arab masses were too oppressed, too consumed by their mere struggle for survival to play any part in shaping the course of their countries' policies. The signing of an unjust peace treaty with Israel in 1993 seemed to be the beginning of the end, and signs of failure followed as countries like Mauritania, Indonesia and others lined up to shake Israel's hand as the need for defiance appeared meaningless.

Yet, with the outbreak of the Intifada, Arab and Muslim masses took to the streets in search for the pride of a nation that had been discarded long ago.

In the Gulf States, the lingering Gulf War conflict appeared irrelevant and too old to remember, as thousands of men, women and children carried Palestinian flags and chanted with tears and fury against Israel's savagery and a US policy of double standards, calling for the liberation of a nearly forsaken land.

In Indonesia, despite the scars left by civil war and revolution, Indonesians put their troubles behind them and rushed to the streets for a cause. And even though they were far away they were closer to the hearts of Palestinians than any other. Their hands clutched tight to each other, as they chanted for Al Aqsa Mosque, and as the Israeli flag, a symbol of oppression, was put to flames.

In Egyptian universities and mosques, often the birthplace of many revolutions, intellectuals and Islamists took to the streets to form one united front.

In Europe and the United States, the Arab and Muslim communities, consumed with the challenges of the West and the burden of its discrimination, were too spirited to step aside and watch. In Germany, 20,000 Muslims and scores of sympathizers demonstrated in perhaps the largest gathering of Muslims in many years. In many US cities, as protestors were telling the world of their rage and fury, they were also searching for a definition of their role in this country, and strongly pushing for a desperately needed unity.

This latest Intifada is a symbol, a wake up call, a loud and passionate reminder of the tragic state in which these nations have reached. As most demonstrations in many countries marched toward an American or Israeli embassy or consulate, it has become clear that these nations are still aware of those who are bringing dishonor and pain to their lives and the lives of their countrymen.

As Palestinian, Arab and Muslim masses have strongly and doubtlessly confirmed their unity, and with blood sanctifying their togetherness, will the Arab and Muslim governments continue being the faithful guards of the interests of the West and Israel? Or will these governments finally side with the just causes of their people, rather than stand as a barrier between the people and their goals? Only time will tell.