From the Middle East to the U.S. Midwest Arabic-language newspapers are reporting on the events in the Occupied Territories of the Holy Land as a turning point -- in relations among Arabs as a whole as well as between Palestinians and Israelis. Most Arabs see the current uprising as the work of a growing youth movement. The movement not only resists Israel but sees it as a chance to clean out the corruption in the Palestine Authority. Franz Schurmann, emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, writes extensively on West Asia as well as East Asia.

Pictures of dead children shot by Israeli soldiers in full war gear appear in Arabic newspapers every day. While the Western press notes that one out of four killed are young men under 18, they now rarely publish pictures of children's corpses.

The rage expressed in the "Aqsa Intifada" is rising. It can be felt in newspapers in the Arab world and beyond. It is clear that hatred of Israel and America has reached a level not seen in years.

One of the most widely read Arabic-language newspapers is Egypt's Al-Ahram ("Pyramids"), considered the voice of a government that receives more U.S. military aid than any country except Israel. Some weeks ago the newspaper As-Sharq al-Ausat ran a translation of a "letter" signed "Bill" by New York Times writer Thomas Friedman warning Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak that Congress could terminate that aid unless he cooperated more in getting Yasser Arafat to make concessions to Israel. Now Al-Ahram runs even fiercer denunciations of Israel and America.

On September 17, before the Aqsa Intifada began, Palestinians organized a big demonstration in Washington, demanding the "right of return" to the Palestine of 1948, when they were driven from their homes and villages to refugee camps. Many of them still live in those camps.

Lebanese-American Mohamad Ozeir, editor-in-chief of the "Arab-American," a major voice of the Arab Dispersion in the U.S., sees September 17 as a turning point from political passivity to activism. Long fearful of harassment or worse from the larger society and the American government, Arabs are now eager to voice their grievances.

He writes, "Arab-Americans are now making common cause with the Palestinians. They have come up with new action principles -- not to play the victim any longer, to know they are a blessed people and that their leadership must be committed to the Palestinian people.

"The tricks the Palestinian Authority once used -- the curious alliances, the suspicious deals and convoluted proclamations -- all these ended at one single moment with the outbreak of the Aqsa Intifada...For too long the Palestinian Authority was poisoned by "Security" without security, by administrators who didn't administer, and by influence peddlers without influence."

President Clinton and Prime Minister Barak have again and again urged Yasser Arafat to do more to stop the violence. But many, if not most, Palestinians and Arabs now see the Aqsa Intifada as a struggle to the finish. As a noun "Aqsa" refers to the golden-domed mosque on top of the Rock. But as an adjective it means the last or ultimate.

Not surprisingly the Arabic-language papers noted the first month anniversary of the Ultimate Intifada. In the As-Sharq al-Ausat of October 25, columnist Bakr Aaweeda wrote that soon enough the Intifada will have a second, most likely a third and then a fourth month. The young Palestinian leadership is willing to let the Aqsa Intifada continue until "independence is achieved" or "Israel will have pulled out of all territory occupied during the June 1967 Six Day War."

The idea of an Ultimate Intifada, no matter how long it takes, comes from Marwan Barghouti, who heads the Fatah youth movement. Yet the 40-year-old Barghouti represents a faction in the Fatah that had sought a peaceful solution to the conflict.

He has counseled patience in negotiations with the Israelis and at the same time he says Palestinians should continue confronting bad governance and corruption in their own ranks -- practices that have forced younger people to swallow their anger. Talks with the Israelis should resume but also show acceptable results as soon as possible, he says. That way "we can start building a decent and independent Palestinian state."

Aaweeda says the youth movement sees the Aqsa Intifada as a "golden opportunity" to move the Palestinian Authority into a new direction. This does not mean abandoning opposition to Israel or no longer supporting Yasser Arafat. What they want is "choice," meaning a big part in constructing the new Palestine.

Aaweeda clearly admires this new Fatah youth movement. At the same time he pleads that children be spared -- they belong in school, he says. He also warns these young leaders that the Palestinians could face the economic disaster of a total boycott from a furious Israel.