Rather than a blip on the diplomatic path, the uprising was seen by Hamas as final proof of the demise of the peace process and of the futility of the PLO’s chosen path. Publications proclaimed that “al-Aqsa Intifada crushe[d] with stones the settlement process” and united the Muslim nation behind resistance.65 As Hamas’s spokesman explained, after the Oslo Accords had “interrupted the natural evolution of Hamas’s Islamic jihadist program,” the Second Intifada marked its resumption.66
