BBC NEWS | Middle East | Shia split over Iraqi 'uprising': "it suits Moqtada Sadr to call it an uprising - in Arabic an 'intifada' - because that puts his campaign of resistance on the same level as the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation.
Sadr's supporters in Basra occupied the governor's house on Monday
And in the Iraqi context, the word has another meaning too.
The young cleric wants Iraqis to believe he is in the same heroic mould as the men who led the revolt of 1920 against British colonial rule.
The three-month revolt - which the British subdued with RAF bombers - has become an important part of Iraq's historical memory.
Repeating a mistake?
But some Iraqis draw a very different lesson from the events of 80 years ago.
They argue that by fighting the British, the Shia simply ensured that the British, (following the example of the Ottoman Turks,) would entrust the government of Iraq to a Sunni elite - a pattern which continued until the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime last year.
Thoughtful Iraqis warn that if the Shia make the same mistake now, they could lose a unique opportunity to win a share of power which reflects their majority status.
But the Shia are divided between those who realise this and those who are being swept along on a tide of angry anti-Americanism."
Sadr's supporters in Basra occupied the governor's house on Monday
And in the Iraqi context, the word has another meaning too.
The young cleric wants Iraqis to believe he is in the same heroic mould as the men who led the revolt of 1920 against British colonial rule.
The three-month revolt - which the British subdued with RAF bombers - has become an important part of Iraq's historical memory.
Repeating a mistake?
But some Iraqis draw a very different lesson from the events of 80 years ago.
They argue that by fighting the British, the Shia simply ensured that the British, (following the example of the Ottoman Turks,) would entrust the government of Iraq to a Sunni elite - a pattern which continued until the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime last year.
Thoughtful Iraqis warn that if the Shia make the same mistake now, they could lose a unique opportunity to win a share of power which reflects their majority status.
But the Shia are divided between those who realise this and those who are being swept along on a tide of angry anti-Americanism."
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