Son of Hamas

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

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