In 1987, the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israeli military rule began in Gaza. Palestinian-born Maher Nasser had gone to work for the United Nations in Gaza shortly before the intifada began; and he tells Witness what life was like there before and during the unrest.

(Photo: a Palestinian demonstrator throws a rock during violent protests against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in December 1987. Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)