Lexicon

Also known as Amendment 116, the Kaminitz Law gives executive authorities the power to issue penalties—such as demolition and stop-work orders, the confiscation of building equipment and vehicles, and arrests—all without referring to the judicial system. Passed in 2017, it is included in the “oversight, enforcement, and penalties” section of the Israeli Planning and Building Law. Prior to its passage, Israeli authorities had to submit a request to a court in order to issue a demolition order, providing for a series of appeals and hearings that lengthened the process and meant the plaintiff could be heard.

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A fee paid to a landlord or a tenant to secure a lease on a residential rental property. In Israel, key money has a history of being linked to illegal real estate transactions—including Palestinian properties appropriated by Israeli settlement organizations—due to rent control laws that give renters inordinate power. Thus, to leave the property, a renter can require a large sum to turn over the “key” to the new resident, providing an opening for wealthy settler organizations to apply financial leverage or falsify a key money transaction and thereby acquire Palestinian properties.

A roadside inn where travelers could rest and recuperate from their journey. Also known as a caravanserai. 

These inns were crucial components of the vast trade network, especially along the Silk Road, and played a significant role in the exchange of goods, culture, and ideas. 

Strategically located at intervals of about a day’s journey, khans provided safe havens for merchants, pilgrims, and other travelers. 

Typically, a khan was a large, rectangular building with a single entrance leading to a central courtyard. Surrounding the courtyard were rooms or stalls for lodging and storage, along with stables for animals. 

Khans also offered various services, such as providing food and water, and sometimes contained repair facilities for goods and animals. They served as hubs for traders to meet, conduct business, and engage in social and cultural exchanges. Travelers from diverse backgrounds would gather, share news, and exchange stories, fostering the spread of knowledge and cultural practices across regions. 

A commission of inquiry led by the United States in 1919 to survey public opinion in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Anatolia following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire one year earlier. The commission was formally known as the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey, but France, Britain, and Italy withdrew from it out of concern that the findings of the commission would conflict with their goals in the region. France and Britain had already signed the Sykes–Picot Agreement in 1916, and the Balfour Declaration had been announced in 1917—among other inter-European deals to divide up the territories. The commission’s recommendations, which were submitted to the Paris Peace Conference in August 1919 and warned against the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, were inconsequential, since the Allied Forces had already decided the region’s fate.