What Is (Was) the Objective of the Intifada?

What is (was) the objective of the al Aksa Intifada that began in 2000? For what ultimate purpose did Arafat encourage and support the suicide murderers who were blowing up Israeli busses, pizzerias and restaurants?

No one knows, or at least no one is willing to say.

Not knowing the objective, it is not possible to measure actual outcomes against objectives and determine whether the results were justified by the very considerable costs.

Whatever their objectives, the costs to the Palestinians include:

1. Two to three thousand Palestinians dead.
2. Many houses bulldozed or blown up.
3. Checkpoints closed that prevent Palestinian workers from entering Israel to go to work.
4. The Wall that causes a lot of problems for the Palestinians.
5. Total breakdown in negotiations and hopes for a better future.

If that's what the Palestinians wanted to achieve, congratulations -- they have succeeded.

If they were aiming for something else, they have failed, miserably, again.