Before the intifada began, the author had already looked at local organizations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and seen there the main elements that would eventually be used to mobilize the Palestinian masses. This title studies these organizations.

Before the intifada began, Joost Hiltermann had already looked at local organizations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and seen there the main elements that would eventually be used to mobilize the Palestinian masses. In the first comprehensive study of these organizations, Hiltermann shows how local organizers provided basic services unavailable under military rule, while recruiting for the cause of Palestinian nationalism.

"In the first comprehensive treatment of the subject, Hiltermann argues that the local trade unions and women's organisations provided the uprising with an infrastructure. . . . Hiltermann's book is rich in detail and encyclopedic in scope."---Lawrence Tal, The Times Higher Education Supplement