Son of Hamas (30 page)

Imad Akel
–
Leader of Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas military wing; killed by Israelis

Ismail Haniyeh
–
Elected Palestinian prime minister in 2006

Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri
–
Sbarro pizza parlor suicide bomber

Jamal al-Dura
–
Father of twelve-year-old Mohammed al-Dura, who Palestinians say was killed by IDF soldiers during a demonstration by Palestinian security forces in Gaza

Jamal al-Taweel
–
Hamas leader in the West Bank

Jamal Salim
–
Hamas leader killed in assassination of Jamal Mansour in Nablus

Jamil Hamami
–
Cofounder of Hamas in 1986

Jibril Rajoub
–
Head of security for the Palestinian Authority

Juma’a
–
Gravedigger in cemetery near Mosab’s childhood home

King Hussein
–
King of Jordan (1952–1999)

Kofi Annan
–
Seventh secretary-general of the United Nations (1997–2006)

Leonard Cohen
–
Canadian singer and songwriter who wrote “First We Take Manhattan”

Mahmud Muslih
–
Cofounder of Hamas in 1986

Majeda Talahme
–
Wife of Hamas terrorist Saleh Talahme

Mohammad
–
Founder of Islam

Mohammad Daraghmeh
–
Palestinian journalist

Mohammed al-Dura
–
Twelve-year-old boy allegedly killed by IDF soldiers during a Fatah demonstration in Gaza

Mohammed Arman
–
Member of Hamas terrorist cell

Mosab Talahme
–
Oldest son of terrorist Saleh Talahme

Muhammad Jamal al-Natsheh
–
Cofounder of Hamas in 1986 and head of its military wing in the West Bank

Muhaned Abu Halawa
–
Member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades

Najeh Madi
–
Covert leader of Hamas

Nissim Toledano
–
Israeli border policeman killed by Hamas

Ofer Dekel
–
Shin Bet officer

Rehavam Ze’evi
–
Israeli tourism minister assassinated by PFLP gunmen

Saddam Hussein
–
Iraqi dictator who invaded Kuwait in 1990

Saeb Erekat
–
Palestinian cabinet minister

Saeed Hotari
–
Dolphinarium suicide bomber

Salah Hussein
–
Covert leader of Hamas

Sami Abu Zuhri
–
Hamas spokesman in Gaza

Shada
–
Palestinian worker killed by mistake by an Israeli tank gunner

Shimon Peres
–
Ninth president of Israel, who assumed office in 2007; has also served as prime minister and foreign minister

Shlomo Sakal
–
Israeli plastics salesman, stabbed to death in Gaza

Tsibouktsakis Germanus
–
Greek Orthodox monk murdered by Ismail Radaida

Yahya Ayyash
–
Bomb maker credited with advancing the technique of suicide bombing in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Yasser Arafat
– Longtime chairman of the PLO, president of the PA; died in 2004

Yisrael Ziv
–
Israeli major general for the IDF

Yitzhak Rabin
–
Fifth prime minister of Israel (1974–1977; 1992–1995); assassinated by right-wing Israeli radical Yigal Amir in 1995

Zakaria Botros
–
Coptic priest who has led countless Muslims to Christ, via satellite television, by exposing the errors in the Qur’an and revealing the truth of Scripture

Glossary

abu
–
Son of

adad
–
Number

adhan
–
Muslim call to prayer, five times a day

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
–
Terrorist group, formed during the Second Intifada out of various resistance groups, that carries out suicide bombings and other attacks against Israeli targets

Al-Aqsa Mosque
–
Islam’s third holiest site from which Muslims believe Mohammad ascended into heaven; located on the Temple Mount, Jews’ holiest site and believed to be the location of the ancient Jewish Temples

Al-Fatihah
–
The opening sura (passage) of the Qur’an, read by the imam or religious leader

Al-Jazeera
–
Arab satellite television news network; based in Qatar

Allah
–
Arabic word for God

Allenby Bridge
–
Bridge across the Jordan River between Jericho and Jordan; originally built by British General Edmund Allenby in 1918

baklava
–
Rich pastry made with layers of dough, filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey

Black September
–
Bloody confrontation between the Jordanian government and Palestinian organizations in September 1970

Caliphate
–
Islamic political leadership

Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)
–
Secular Marxist-Leninist organization opposing the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza

dinar (dee'-nahr)
–
Official currency of Jordan, used throughout the West Bank in addition to the Israeli shekel

emir
–
Arabic for chief or commander

Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades (Eza-deen' al Kas-sam')
–
Military wing of Hamas

Fatah
–
Largest political faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization

fatwa
–
Legal opinion or decree concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar

feda’iyeen
(fedai-yeen')
–
Freedom fighters

Force 17
–
Yasser Arafat’s elite commando unit

hadith
(hah'-dith)
–
Oral traditions of Islam

hajj
–
Pilgrimage to Mecca

Hamas
–
Islamic resistance movement in the West Bank and Gaza, listed by the United States, European Union, and others as a terrorist organization

Hezbollah
–
Islamic political and paramilitary organization in Lebanon

hijab
–
Head covering or veil worn by Muslim women in some cultures

IDF (Israel Defense Forces)
–
Israel’s military force, including ground forces, air force, and navy

imam
–
Islamic leader, usually of a mosque

intifada
–
Rebellion or uprising

Islamic Jihad
–
Islamic resistance movement in the West Bank and Gaza, listed by the United States, European Union, and others as a terrorist organization

jalsa
–
Islamic study group

jihad
–
Literally means “struggle” but interpreted by militant Islamic groups to call for armed struggle, even terrorism

Kalashnikov
–
Russian AK-47 assault rifle; invented by Mikhail Kalashnikov

Knesset
–
Legislative branch of the Israeli government

Ktzi’ot
–
Israeli tent prison in the Negev where Mosab spent time

Kurds
–
Ethnic people group, most of whom live in Kurdistan, which covers parts of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey

Labor Party
–
Socialist/Zionist left-wing political party of Israel

Likud Party
–
Right-wing political party of Israel

maj’d
(mah-jeed')
–
Hamas security wing

Maskobiyeh (mahs-koh-bee'-yah)
–
Israeli detention center in West Jerusalem

Mecca
–
Islam’s holiest site, located in Saudi Arabia, where the prophet Mohammad founded his religion

Medina
–
Islam’s second holiest site; the burial place of Mohammad located in Saudi Arabia

Megiddo
–
Prison camp in northern Israel

Merkava
–
Combat tank, used by the Israeli Defense Forces

minaret
–
Tall spire of a mosque from which a Muslim religious leader calls the faithful to prayer

mi’var
–
At Megiddo, a processing unit where prisoners stayed before being moved into the camp population

Molotov cocktail
–
A petroleum bomb, usually a gasoline-filled glass bottle with a rag wick, that is ignited and thrown at a target.

mosque
–
Muslim place of worship and prayer

Mossad
–
National intelligence agency of Israel, comparable to America’s Central Intelligence Agency

mujahid
(moo-jah-ha-deed')
–
Muslim guerilla soldier

Munkar and Nakir
–
Angels believed to torment the dead

occupied territories
–
The West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights

Operation Defensive Shield
–
Major military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces during the Second Intifada

Oslo Accords
–
The 1993 agreements reached between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization

Ottoman Empire
–
Turkish empire that lasted from about 1299 to 1923

Palestinian Authority (PA)
–
Formed in 1994, according to the terms of the Oslo Accords, as the governing body of the West Bank and Gaza

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
–
Political/resistance organization, led by Yasser Arafat from 1969 to 2004

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
–
Marxist-Leninist resistance organization in the West Bank and Gaza

Qur’an (kor-ahn')
–
The holy book of Islam

rak’ah
–
Islamic sets of prayers and postures

Ramadan
–
Month of fasting to commemorate the receipt of the Qur’an by Mohammad

sawa’ed
–
Agents for the Hamas security wing in the Israeli prison camps; threw balls containing messages from one section to another

Scud
–
Ballistic missile developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War

sharia
–
Islamic religious law

shaweesh
–
A prisoner chosen to represent other inmates with the Israeli prison administrators; a “trusty”

sheikh (shake)
–
Muslim elder or leader

Shi’a
–
Islam’s second largest denomination after Sunni

Shin Bet
–
Israeli intelligence service, comparable to America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation

shurah
council
–
In Islam, a panel of seven decision makers

shoter
(sho-tair')
–
Hebrew for Israeli prison guard or police officer

Six-Day War
–
Brief war in 1967 between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria

Sunni
–
Islam’s largest denomination

sura
–
Chapter in the Qur’an

Temple Mount
–
In Old Jerusalem, the location of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the oldest Islamic building in the world; also believed to be location of First and Second Jewish Temples

wudu
–
Islamic ritual purification

Time Line

1923
–
End of the Ottoman Empire

1928
–
Hassan al-Banna founds the Society of the Muslim Brothers

1935
–
The Muslim Brotherhood is established in Palestine

1948
–
The Muslim Brotherhood takes violent action against the Egyptian government; Israel declares its independence; Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq invade Israel

1949
–
Hassan al-Banna is assassinated; Al-Amari refugee camp established in the West Bank

1964
–
Palestine Liberation Organization founded

1967
–
Six-Day War

1968
–
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacks an El Al 707 and diverts it to Algiers; no fatalities

1970
–
Black September, in which thousands of PLO fighters are killed by Jordanian troops, as Jordan expels the PLO

1972
–
Eleven Israeli athletes killed by Black September at the Munich Olympics