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
1973 — Yom Kippur War
1977 — Hassan Yousef marries Sabha Abu Salem
1978 — Mosab Hassan Yousef is born; thirty-eight people are killed in a Fatah attack on Israel’s Coastal Highway north of Tel Aviv
1979 — Palestinian Islamic Jihad founded
1982 — Israel invades Lebanon and drives out the PLO
1985 — Hassan Yousef and his family move to Al-Bireh
1986 — Hamas founded in Hebron
1987 — Hassan Yousef takes a second job, teaching religion to Muslims at the Christian school in Ramallah; beginning of the First Intifada
1989 — Hassan Yousef’s first arrest and imprisonment; Amer Abu Sarhan of Hamas murders three Israelis
1990 — Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait
1992 — Mosab’s family moves to Betunia; Hassan Yousef is arrested; Hamas terrorists kidnap and murder Israeli police officer Nissim Toledano; Palestinian leaders are deported to Lebanon
1993 — Oslo Accords
1994 — Baruch Goldstein kills twenty-nine Palestinians in Hebron; first official suicide bombing; Yasser Arafat returns triumphantly to Gaza to set up Palestinian Authority headquarters
1995 — Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated; Hassan Yousef is arrested by the Palestinian Authority; Mosab buys illegal, inoperative guns
1996 — Hamas bomb maker Yahya Ayyash is assassinated; Mosab is arrested and imprisoned for the first time
1997 — Mosab released from prison; Mossad unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate Khalid Meshaal
1999 — Mosab attends a Christian Bible study
2000 — Camp David Summit; Second Intifada (also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada) begins
2001 — French Hill suicide bombing; Dolphinarium and Sbarro pizza parlor suicide bombings; PFLP secretary-general Abu Ali Mustafa assassinated by Israel; Israeli minister of tourism Rehavam Ze’evi assassinated by PFLP gunmen
2002 — Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield; nine killed in Hebrew University attack; Mosab and his father are arrested and imprisoned
2003 — Western Coalition forces liberate Iraq; Hamas terrorists Saleh Talahme, Hasaneen Rummanah, and Sayyed al-Sheikh Qassem are killed by Israel
2004 — Death of Yasser Arafat; Hassan Yousef released from prison
2005 — Mosab is baptized; truce ends between Hamas and Israel; Mosab’s third arrest and imprisonment; Mosab released from prison
2006 — Ismail Haniyeh elected Palestinian prime minister
2007 — Mosab leaves the occupied territories for America
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