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Modern History

Home > Modern History > International Studies in Peace and Conflict > The Arab-Israeli Conflict 1948-1996 > Glossary

 

Arab

people who speak Arabic and believe in the existence of an Arab nation, e.g. Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians
 

Ashkenazim

Jew of eastern or central European background
 

Attrition

wearing down the opposition in warfare, such as Egypt's war against Israel, 1969–70
 

Baath Party

political party, meaning rebirth and promoting Arab nationalism, involved in governments of both Syria and Iraq
 

DMZ

demilitarised zone, a buffer zone between countries that are fighting
 

DOP

Declaration of Principles relating to the Oslo Peace Accord of 1993
 

Diaspora

group of people dispersed from their homes, e.g. Jews and Palestinian Arabs 
 

Druze

small religious sect of Muslim faith that broke away from Sunni Moslems
 

Eretz Israel

the land of Israel
 

Fatah

military and political group founded in 1958, largest moderate group in the PLO, led by Yasser Arafat
 

Fedayeen/fedayin

those who sacrifice themselves, Palestinian guerillas
 

Gaza Strip

strip of desert in south-west Palestine until recently occupied by Israeli troops since 1967; of strategic importance; now Yasser Arafat's home
 

Golan Heights

overlooking northern Israel annexed and colonised by Israel since 1967; Syria would like to control this area 
 

Haganah

Israeli paramilitary group set up in 1920, became Israeli defence force in 1948 
 

Hamas

Islamic resistance movement, established in 1988, wants a religious state in Palestine
 

Hazbollah/Hizbollah

Party of God, a political and religious movement established in the 1980s, committed to a holy war against Israel; based in south Lebanon and funded by Iran
 

Hebrew

language of the Jews
 

Holocaust

slaughter of Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War
 

Intifada

an uprising conducted by the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories against the state of Israel
 

Irgun Zvai Leumi

right-wing Jewish organisation; blew up King David Hotel (1946), responsible for Dier Yassin village massacre (1948), led by Menachim Begin and disbanded in 1948
 

Jerusalem

capital city of Israel, disputed territory as Jews, Muslims and Christians all consider Jerusalem a holy city
 

Jew

applied to descendants of Abraham of the Bible, a person whose religion is Judaism
 

Jewish Agency

political organisation set up in Palestine in 1929, helped Jews to immigrate, buy land and negotiate with British in Palestine; after 1948 many of its functions were taken over by the Israeli government
 

Jihad

Arabic word meaning holy war; true Muslims must oppose unbelievers or those who threaten the existence of the Islamic community
 

Kach

anti-Arab Jewish religious group established in Israel in 1977, responsible for the massacre at the Mosque in Hebron in 1994
 

Kibbutz

Jewish pioneering settlement, based on principles of shared ownership and strict equality of the sexes 
 

Knesset

Israeli parliament, established in 1948
 

Likud

right-wing parliamentary bloc formed in 1973
 

Mandate

government of people by a major power subject to approval of the League of Nations (1920–45) or the United Nations, e.g. British Mandate of Palestine 1920–48 
 

Mapai

Jewish Labour Party
 

Maronite

largest Christian community in Lebanon
 

Oil weapon

Arab countries' use of the world's dependence on Arab oil as a threat by increasing prices, reducing production or banning oil shipments to non-Arab countries 
 

OPEC

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
 

OPT

Occupied Palestinian Territories
 

PA

Palestinian Authority or Palestinian Council (PC) led by Yasser Arafat, considered the Palestinian government
 

PLO

Palestinian Liberation Organisation established in 1964, at first committed to armed struggle to liberate Palestine
 

Partition Plan

United Nations plan to divide Palestine into Arab and Jewish states
 

Refugee

homeless person seeking refuge in another country, e.g. Palestinians in Lebanon
 

Sephardim

Jews of Mediterranean background
 

Shi'ite

dominant Muslim group in Iran, believe in martyrdom for the faith
 

Stern Gang

Jewish right-wing, anti-British paramilitary group founded in 1939 by Abraham Stern; killed UN mediator Count Folke Bernadotte and disbanded in 1948 by Israeli government
 

Sunni

follow the way to the prophet Muhammad, sunna; the largest Islamic community
 

UNEF

United Nations Emergency Forces
 

UNRWA

United Nations Relief and Works Agency established to assist Palestinian refugees in the 1950s and still working
 

UNSC

United Nations Security Council
 

Wailing Wall

part of outer western wall of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Romans in 70AD, a sacred place of Jews to pray or "wail"
 

West Bank

area west of River Jordan, occupied by Israelis in 1967, claimed by the PLO as part of Palestinian state
 

White Paper

official British report on Palestine; the last one in 1939 recommended partition
 

Yishuv

Jewish community of settlers who first came to Palestine in 1882
 

Zionism

a movement formerly for re-establishing, now for advancing, the Jewish national state of Israel