A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M    N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    XYZ 

HA'ARETZ - A leading independent newspaper in Israel generally considered to the left of the political spectrum.

HARAM ASH-SHARIF - Literally means the "Noble Sanctuary". Refers to the area that the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque stand on. This is also the area where the Jewish Temple stood.

HA-SHOMER HA-ZA'IR - Zionist socialist pioneering youth movement founded in 1916 in Vienna, which eventually spread around the world.

HADASSAH - Jewish women's Zionist organization headquartered in the United States.

HADITH - A report of the sayings or actions of Muhammad or his companions, together with the tradition of its chain of transmission.

HAGANAH - Clandestine Jewish organization for armed self-defense in Palestine under the British Mandate that eventually became the nucleus of the Israel Defense Forces.

HAJJ - The fifth pillar of Islam is a journey to Mecca. A Muslim is expected to make this pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime. Pilgrims go through a process of ritual purification and don a white robe, an ihram, which will ultimately be their burial shroud. Among the rites performed during the hajj, is circling the Kaaba (a building containing a sacred Black Stone) seven times.

HALUTZ, DANIEL (1948- ) - Lieutenant-General, 18th IDF Chief of General Staff.

HAMAS - Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, a fundamentalist group that rejects all discussion of peace with Israel, including the current Israeli-PLO negotiations. Responsible for many terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and Palestinian so-called "collaborators" with Israel, Hamas states in its covenant that "[t]he Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees." Recent evidence has indicated that Hamas carries out substantial fundraising and organizational work in the United States.  On December 28, 2002, Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is quoted in Al-Ayyam as saying, "The jihad and suicide bombings will continue - the Zionist entity will reach its end in the first quarter of the current century. It is therefore up to you [Muslim holy fighters] to be patient - the Hamas takes upon itself the liberation of all Palestinian land from the sea to the river in the Rafah [in the south] and until Rosh Hanikra [in the north]."

HAREDI - Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel.

HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN - Country bordered on the north by Syria and on the west by Israel and the West Bank. Called Transjordan from 1921-1950.  In 1948, approximately 100,000 Palestinians crossed into Jordan.  This number multiplied rapidly, and as of the end of 2003, 1.7 million registered Palestinian refugees live in Jordan, 307,785 of which are accommodated by the ten official Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. 

HEBEW UNIVERSITY BOMBING - July 31, 2002 - Nine people - four Israelis and five foreign nationals - were killed and 85 injured, 14 of them seriously, when a bomb exploded in the Frank Sinatra student center cafeteria on the Hebrew University's Mt. Scopus campus. The explosive device was planted inside the cafeteria, which was gutted by the explosion. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: David Diego Ladowski, 29, of Jerusalem; Levina Shapira, 53, of Jerusalem; Marla Bennett, 24, of California (US); Benjamin Blutstein, 25, of Pennsylvania (US); Dina Carter, 37, of Jerusalem (US); Janis Ruth Coulter, 36, of Massachusetts (US); David Gritz, 24, of Jerusalem (US-France). Daphna Spruch, 61, of Jerusalem died of her wounds on August 10. Revital Barashi, 30, died of her wounds on August 13.

HEBRON AGREEMENT - Agreement reached on January 15, 1997, in which Israel agreed to withdraw from 80% of the city of Hebron.

HERUT - Political movement in Eretz Israel established in 1948 by the Irgun-Zevai Le'ummi to continue as a parliamentary party with the ideals of Vladimir Jabotinsky.

HEZBOLLAH/HISBALLAH (PARTY OF GOD) - Iranian-backed Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organization, based in predominantly Shi'ite areas of southern Lebanon, that has launched numerous attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians.  On October 14, 2002, Hezbollah spokesperson Hassan Ezzedin is quoted as saying, "If they go from Sheba'a, we will not stop fighting them. Our goal is to liberate the 1948 borders of Palestine...[Jews] can go back to Germany or wherever they came from."

HISTADRUT - (abbr. for Heb. Ha-Histadrut ha-Kelalit shel ha-Ovedim ha-Ivriyyim be- Eretz Israel). Jewish Labor Federation founded in 1920 in Palestine, subsequently renamed Histadrut ha-Ovedim be-Eretz Israel.

HUDNA - Arabic word often translated as "cease-fire.- Historically used as a tactic aimed at allowing the party declaring the hudna to regroup while tricking an enemy into lowering its guard. When the hudna expires, the party that declared it is stronger and the enemy weaker. The term comes from the story of the Muslim conquest of Mecca. Instead of a rapid victory, Muhammad made a ten-year treaty with the Kuraysh tribe. In 628 AD, after only two years of the ten-year treaty, Muhammad and his forces concluded that the Kuraysh were too weak to resist. The Muslims broke the treaty and took over all of Mecca without opposition.

HUSSEIN-MCMAHON CORRESPONDENCE - Correspondence between Sherif Hussein of Mecca and Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commission in Egypt in which the two agreed on the terms for Arab independence from Ottoman rule. In 1916 Hussein started the Arab Revolt and declared Arab independence from Turkey.