Lexicon

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Colloquialization of a common medieval Arabic term, hara (pl. harat, hawari), used for both street (or alley) and quarter (or section of a town). Not used on its own but rather together with the neighborhood name. See Haret al-Maghariba,Haret al-Sa‘diyya, Haret al-Sharaf. 

Haret al-Maghariba (“Moroccan neighborhood” in English) was a centuries-old neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem adjacent to the Western Wall that was home to approximately 650 people and 100 families. On June 10, 1967, days after Israel occupied Arab Jerusalem, it was entirely demolished by contractors hired by the Jerusalem municipality on the direct orders of Mayor Teddy Kollek.

Sources differ on the roots of the neighborhood’s name. Some sources indicate that the entire neighborhood was the Islamic waqf of King al-Afdal, one of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi’s 17 sons. Other sources say that the neighborhood was named after the Moroccan pilgrims who visited al-Aqsa Mosque, or that Moroccan religious students stayed in the neighborhood.

The neighborhood was located next to al-Buraq Wall, or what has become the Western Wall complex. The city rushed to demolish 135 homes and historic structures in the al-Maghariba neighborhood and turned it into an open square in the newly expanded Jewish Quarter. Today’s Jewish Quarter was built on the lands of the al-Maghariba and al-Sharaf neighborhoods.

A neighborhood (haret) located within Jerusalem’s Old City walls between Herod’s Gate/Bab al-Zahra and Damascus Gate/Bab al-Amud (see The Gates of the Old City). Haret al-Sa‘diyya (or “Sa‘diyya neighborhood” in English) was named after Bani Sa‘ad (“offspring of Sa‘ad”), i.e., the Sa‘adi family. This family was one of the tribes that came to Jerusalem with the Muslim conqueror Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in the 12th century. According to a 2018 al-Quds newspaper interview with Abed al-Qader al-Bukhari (b. 1933), a resident of this neighborhood, the largely Kurdish neighborhood also had several other names. It was also called al-Mashariqa (“Orient”) neighborhood after the Eastern Christians who inhabited it during the Crusader era. The neighborhood is also abundant with antiquities, including the Red Minaret Mosque, Sheikh Rehan Mosque, Convent of the Sisters of Zion, Indian corner (zawiya), Salhiya school, Mawlawia corner, the mosque and tomb of Sheikh al-Shuyoukh Ali al-Khilouti, Sheikh Lulu Mosque, and the mosque and tomb of Sheikh Shaky Makki.  

An Old City north-to-south haret that used to lie adjacent and parallel to the now-demolished Haret al-Maghariba; named after the mausoleum of Sharaf al-Din Musa, a Jerusalem notable buried in the vicinity in the 14th century. The neighborhood formerly had Muslim and Jewish inhabitants. Today its location falls in the middle of the Jewish Quarter and it is known as Misgav Ladakh (Hebrew), or Sharaf or Maydan Street.

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An agreement on arrangements for the Palestinian city of Hebron signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as part of the Oslo Accords. Also known as the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron, the agreement stipulated Israel’s military redeployment from 80 percent of the city while maintaining a small Israeli settlement in the heart of the Palestinian urban area and religious center. Signed on January 17, 1997, the protocol gave the Israeli military 10 days to redeploy from H-1, while H-2, where several hundred Israeli settlers had occupied Palestinian homes, would remain under Israeli control. The Palestinian market and Shuhada Street near the settlement were to remain open. The rest of Shuhada Street remains closed and emptied of Palestinian residents.

The English name for one of the seven open gates in the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. See also Bab al-Zahra. 

See The Gates of the Old City for more detailed information.

A term coined in 2000 during the Israeli–Palestinian negotiations (Camp David II) by Israeli negotiators who sought to differentiate the center of the city with its holy sites from the remainder of the city. Originating in a European need to define the “original” landscape described in the Bible  and growing out of earlier European, colonial, and particularly British planning traditions, the term “Holy Basin” refers to the Old City (with its holy sites) and the open environs around it, including Silwan to the south of the Old City and the Mount of Olives to its east.  

In 1974, the Israeli government established the Jerusalem Walls National Park around the Old City, covering an area of 1,100 sq km that became prohibited for building. The park was situated in a “special zone” of 10 km sq of territory in East Jerusalem only, abutting the Holy Basin and extending over Palestinian villages and neighborhoods including Sheikh Jarrah, Wadi al-Joz, al-Tur, Silwan, Abu Tor, and Ras al-Amud. 

Israel and several settler organizations, including Ateret Cohanim, have been displacing Palestinians from the Holy Basin and settling Jews in their place for decades under the pretext that the basin contains important Jewish historic and religious sites. 

Variously referred to as: Old City and environs, antiquity zone, archaeology zone, special zone, old City basin, Old City visual space, historic basin, religious basin, and heritage zone. 

The Muslim practice of secluding oneself in the mosque for any select period as a means of becoming closer to God, deepening worship, and abstaining from worldly affairs. The Arabic root of the term i‘tikaf literally means “to adhere, cling, stick, keep.” This spiritual retreat was practiced by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad for the last 10 days of every Ramadan, believed by Muslims to be a particularly potent time for prayer, reflection, and devotion, as God shows great mercy and kindness during this period. 

Refers to the meal that breaks Muslims’ fasts during the holy month of Ramadan. It is considered the second meal of the day, following suhur, the meal before dawn (fajr) prayer, which marks the beginning of the fast. Iftar is observed following the sunset (maghrib) call to prayer. Muslims break their fast with dates in emulation of the manner by which the Prophet Muhammad broke his fast, though this practice is not mandatory. Iftar meals are also considered an important pillar of community building, as this meal is often shared with friends and family. It is also common practice to provide iftar meals for those who are less fortunate and is seen as an act of charity. While the month of Ramadan is considered a time of self-introspection and improvement, charity, religious devotion, and worship, there is also great emphasis on empathy with the less fortunate through the sensations of hunger, thirst, and deprivation. 

In Islam, a religious community leader. The imam’s main responsibility is to lead prayers and deliver sermons on Fridays. “Imam” in Arabic means “to stand in front of.” Generally, an imam is chosen by the community and will be a respected community member. The imam may also offer counseling, mentor youth, and play other community roles. During prayer, the imam, who stands at the front of the prayer lines, faces Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. 

Settlement belt in East Jerusalem within the expanded Israeli municipal boundaries. It is made up of state-authorized settlement neighborhoods built on confiscated Palestinian land. Surrounding the Core Ring of settlements in and around the Old City, the Inner Ring is connected through an infrastructure of roads and tunnels, and extends from the southeastern settlement of Gilo, north of Bethlehem, all the way to the northern industrial settlement of Atarot, south of Ramallah.

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An underground paramilitary Zionist group that operated in Palestine during the British Mandate period. (The name is Hebrew for “organization.”) It was established in 1931 by dissident Haganah members. The British considered it a terrorist organization; the dominant Labor Zionist movement considered it a radical rival, and in 1936, it became an instrument of the Revisionist Party, an extreme nationalist party. It was responsible for about 60 terror attacks targeting both British Mandate officials and Palestinian communities.

In 1941, the Irgun split into two groups: one became known as the Lehi or Stern Gang and regarded the British as the main enemy, and the other was closely allied to the Revisionist Party and regarded the Palestinians as the main enemy. The latter also organized illegal Jewish immigration into Palestine. Its members were executed by the British, and it in turn executed British army hostages. In 1946, the Irgun bombed the King David Hotel, which served as a British administrative command post, killing some 91 soldiers and civilians. Two years later, its members participated in the April 1948 massacre at the Palestinian village of Deir Yasin, just outside Jerusalem. By September 1948, the Irgun was dismantled and subsumed by the Israeli army. One of its leaders, Menachem Begin, later became prime minister of Israel. The Irgun was the precursor of the Herut Party, one of Israel’s most militant right-wing factions.

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Refers to the diverse religious trends in the Muslim world that want to reorganize society with reference to Islam

Israel Security Agency, known in Hebrew as Sherut Ha Bitachon Ha Klali (abbreviated as Shabak or Shin Bet), is the Israeli counterintelligence and internal security service, one of three secret services established in 1948.

The part of the Palestinian Jerusalem governorate (Muhafazat al-Quds) that coincides with the area of Jerusalem that Israel annexed and claims as its own—i.e., the area of the governorate that falls within the unilaterally declared Israeli municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. One of two subdistricts (J1 and J2) of this governorate, which was established when the Palestinian Authority was established in 1995 under the Oslo Accords.

See also Where Is Jerusalem? and J2.

The part of the Palestinian Jerusalem governorate (Muhafazat al-Quds) that lies outside the area of Jerusalem that Israel annexed and claims as its own—i.e., the area of the governorate that falls outside the unilaterally declared Israeli municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. One of two subdistricts of this governorate (J1 and J2), which was established when the Palestinian Authority was established in 1995 under the Oslo Accords.

See also Where Is Jerusalem? and J1.