First Intifada
The first period of the Intifada is often divided into four phases. The first phase started immediately after the mass demonstrations on 8 December in Gaza and ended, more or less, three weeks later. This phase consisted of the sudden Palestinian demonstrations and uprisings that spread from Gaza to all of the Palestinian territories. The second phase lasted until march 1988. The Intifada became more organized in this phase: the UNLU was established, even as several of the civil committees discussed above. In the third phase, that ran from march to June 1988, the Palestinians effectively started to boycott Israeli products and taxes. During the fourth phase the resistance became even more structured and organized. This phase climaxed with the Declaration of Palestinian statehood (written by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and proclaimed by Yasser Arafat) in November 1988.