![[Skip to Page Content]](graphics/skip_sliver.jpg){kind=small}
|
       |
 
 |
A Style Sheet on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Paramilitary group loyal to Yasir Arafat’s Fatah organization; founded after the eruption of the second intifada on Sept. 28, 2000, the day Ariel Sharon, then Israel’s right-wing opposition leader, went to Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque to press his claim of Israeli sovereignty over Islam’s third holiest site. See: Fatah. Al Haram al Sherif. English: the Noble Sanctuary. Arabic name for the plaza in Jerusalem where the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque are located. Muslims revere the site as the area where Prophet Muhammad broke his miraculous night journey from Mecca to heaven. Jews revere the area as the location of the First and Second Temples, and refer to the area above and to the east of the Western Wall as Har Ha Moriyya or Har Ha Bayt in Hebrew and as the Temple Mount in English. Some Jewish radicals advocate the construction of a third Temple there. Use Hebrew and Arabic equivalents or use two English equivalents. See: Western Wall; Temple Mount Faithful. Aliyah. Hebrew meaning “going up.” Refers to the immigration of Jews to Israel. Since 1948, about 2,900,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel. [www.aliyah.-org] See: Law of Return. Al-Jazeera (or Al-Jazira) Satellite Channel. Founded in Qatar in 1996, JSC is the only 24-hour station in the Arab world dedicated to news, news analyses, talk shows, and documentaries; as such it has replaced CNN as the major source of news on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Its impact on the Arab world is significant. By beaming scenes of Israel’s occupation hourly into Arab homes and schools, it has made its viewers real-time participants in these events, much as CNN made Americans real-time participants in the events of September 11, 2001. Allah. Arabic for God. Not exclusively the God of Muslims, since Arabic-speaking Christians use the same term. See: God. Annexation, Annexed Territories. Following the 1967 war, Israel annexed East Jerusalem and a portion of the West Bank, extending the borders of Jerusalem by 36 square miles. In 1981, Israel annexed Syria’s Golan Heights. Both these annexations are considered illegal under United Nations resolutions. The United States regards the annexed territories as areas to be dealt with in final peace negotiations. Settlements for Jewish residents have been and are being constructed in the annexed areas and in other parts of the West Bank and Gaza. [www.arij.org] See: East Jerusalem; Golan Heights; Green Line; Occupied Territories; U.N. Resolutions. Anti-Semitism. Discrimination against, or persecution of, Semitic people. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term was first used with specific reference to Jews in the 1880s, although for hundreds of years and in many countries Jews and Arabs, who are also Semites, have been denied full rights as citizens and have suffered economic discrimination, social ostracism, and persecution. Historically, anti-Semitism toward Jews has been especially harsh in predominantly Christian nations in Europe, culminating in pogroms, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust. Generally used to describe negative attitudes toward Jews. See: Semitic Peoples. Arab, Arabic, Arabians. An Arab is a person whose native tongue is Arabic, generally one who comes from the Middle East or North Africa. Arabs are not a religious group but a linguistic and cultural group of Semitic origin. Arabic is the language used throughout the region and also liturgically by Muslims worldwide. Arabians are people who live in, or have migrated from, the Arabian Peninsula. [www.albab/com/arab/countries/palestine] See: Israeli Arabs. Arab League. Confederation of Arab states founded in 1945. Membership comprises 22 Arab states and includes Palestine, which was admitted as a full member in 1976. The League, now headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, has observer status at the United Nations. Its summit meetings are seen as indicators of the level of Arab unity. Areas A, B, C. The 1995 Oslo II Agreement divided the Palestinian territories, excluding East Jerusalem, into three zones: Area A, comprising disconnected districts, includes 17.2 percent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and is under the full security and civil control of the Palestinian Authority. Area B, 23.8 percent, is under Israeli security control, while the Palestinian Authority is responsible for some social and civil services. Area C, approximately 59 percent, is under full Israeli occupation. The three areas were theoretically a first step in Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, as required under U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338. Further significant withdrawals, to be completed by May 1999, never took place. See: Occupied Territories; Autonomous Areas; U.N. Resolutions.
Next Page
|
 |
Special Reports:
|
Printer Friendly Version of this Article