The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada (Arabic: انتفاضة الأقصى‎ Intifāḍat al-ʾAqṣā; Hebrew: אינתיפאדת אל-אקצה‎ Intifādat El-Aqtzah) and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian–Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000 and ended roughly around 2005. "Al-Aqsa" is the name of a mosque, constructed in the 8th century AD at the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, a location considered the holiest site in Judaism and third holiest in Islam. "Intifada" is an Arabic word that translates into English as "shaking off". The death toll, including both military and civilian, is estimated to be 5500 Palestinians and over 1100 Israelis, as well as 64 foreigners.

A 2003 study conducted by Israel's International Institute for Counter-Terrorism concluded that Palestinian fatalities have consisted of more combatants than noncombatants. B'tselem's figures indicate that through April 30, 2008, 35.2% of the Palestinians who were killed directly took part in the hostilities, 46.4% "did not take part in the hostilities," and 18.5% where it was not known if they were taking part in hostilities. Of the Israeli casualties, B'tselem reports that 31.7% were security force personnel and 68.3% were civilians. Up to 2003, the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (IPICT) puts Israeli combatant casualties at 22% and civilian at 78%.

Hussein Yusuf Kamal Ibish is a Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1963. He has a Ph.D. in Comparative literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is active in advocacy for Arab causes in the United States. He describes himself as an agnostic from the Muslim-American community.

Ibish comes from an academic background. His father, Yusuf Ibish, studied at Harvard University's Department of Government in the 1950s and was on the faculty of the American University of Beirut as a scholar of Islam. Hussein Ibish attended Emerson College, earning a bachelor of science degree in mass communications in 1986.

Ibish started a blog in 2009.

Ibish has won three awards. In 2002, he received the "Arab-American of the Year" award from the Arab-American Community Center for Economic and Social Services in Ohio (AACCESS, Ohio). A year later, he was named "Best TV Spokesperson for the Arab Cause" by the New York Press. In 2004, Ibish received the Dedicated Service Award from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Raanan Gissin is an Israeli analyst and consultant specializing in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He was senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and a frequent spokesman for the Israeli government on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox.

He is featured as an authority in the documentary Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East. Col. (Res.) Raanan Gissin, PhD., has in recent years become one of Israel’s leading spokesmen to the international press on security and strategic issues, and the peace process. Until recently (2001–2006), he served as Foreign Press & Public Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel.

In 1996, Gissin was appointed Spokesperson for the newly formed Ministry of National Infrastructure headed by Minister Ariel Sharon. He also served as Mr. Sharon’s personal Adviser of Public and Media Affairs. He currently serves as a strategic consultant, commentator and lecturer on a variety of topics related to the Middle East, Israel, the war against terror, and media and government relations. In 1998, he became Senior Public Affairs and Media Adviser to Minister of Foreign Affairs Ariel Sharon. He participated in the conference and negotiations which led to the signing of the Wye Memorandum in October 1998 in Washington D.C. In 1999, following the change of government, he continued to serve as a special consultant to Ariel Sharon. In 2003, he received the prestigious Louis D. Brandeis Award of outstanding contribution to Zionism and for dedication to the cause of attaining peace and security for the State of Israel. During the period 2001-2006, he has served as Foreign Press & Public Affairs Adviser and reported directly to the Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert.

Hesham Tillawi is a Palestinian-American writer, TV talk show host, and political analyst living in Lafayette, Louisiana. He holds a doctoral degree in international relations from Bernelli University, (formerly Berne University in St. Kits), located in Virginia. He was elected vice president of the national executive committee of the Palestinian American Congress in 2004.

Tillawi's weekly two-hour television show, "Current Issues", began to be carried by Bridges TV, a Muslim television network, in late 2005. Tillawi used the show to vocalize criticism against Israel's treatment of Arabs and Muslims.^{[citation needed]} The Anti-Defamation League, however, said his show was "a megaphone for Holocaust deniers and white supremacists seeking to broadcast their hatred and anti-Semitism into American homes" with a "who's who" of notable American antisemites including David Duke, Willis Carto, Edgar J. Steele, Mark Weber, Kevin B. MacDonald and Bradley Smith.

After a 2006 episode in which he interviewed Lyndon LaRouche, Tillawi said he got phone calls and e-mails protesting LaRouche's appearance on the show. Tillawi defended his decision to have LaRouche as a guest, saying that people had to hear what LaRouche has to say and make their own judgment.