The difference, of course, is that the original Intifada lasted nearly six years. The Intifada of Al-Aqsa has lasted just over three weeks. Nor is this the only difference. And the army's response carries all the disproportionate weight of a colonial power. For example, on consecutive nights the army replied to Palestinian fire on the Gilo settlement in occupied East Jerusalem with tank shells and helicopter rockets on the villages and towns of Beit Jala, Beit Sahour and Bethlehem, sometimes giving notice to their terrified inhabitants, sometimes not.
Nobody believes such reports are any longer bravado.
The struggle for independence rages on. Nor do many Arabs see Ehud Barak's response to the summit's statement as mere grandstanding. At the level of substance, Barak's decision was merely a description of reality, since there are currently no negotiations of whatever stripe taking place between Israel and the Palestinians. But at the level of diplomacy it was read, and received, as a deliberate snub to those Arab leaders who had fought to keep the concluding statement moderate rather than extreme. The Arab reactions were not slow in coming.