Compiled by Sara Powell (ed.)
1. Fatah was the largest of the groups comprising the PLO and, under Arafat's leadership, directed much of official PLO policy for many years. Originally considered a terrorist organization, Fatah is now considered the most moderate-and consequently in much of the world the most legitimatePalestinian party, despite the fact that it is only one of the groups that comprise the PLO, which, in 1974 was recognized as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people." The PFLP was a secular, Marxist-Leninist-informed Palestinian nationalist organization under the leadership of George Habbash. Founded in 1967, it became a part of the PLO umbrella organization. The PDFLP split from the PFLP in 1969 under the leadership of Nayef Hawatmeh, and is generally considered to have more of a Maoist approach than the PFLP.
2. Deir-Yassin, a Palestinian village of about 750, was virtually destroyed by Irgun and Stern Gang commandos on April 9, 1948. Over 100 Palestinian men, women and children were killed.
3. Nathan Birnbaum was elected Secretary General of the Zionist Organization at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, but eventually abandoned the idea of political Zionism in favor of a conservationist approach to traditional Jewish culture and religion among the Ashkenazi diaspora in Europe.
4. In 2008, as this book is being edited, the situation is even more vicious, more desperate and more acute as settlements continue to grow, the wall continues to rise, and Palestinians succumb to armed in-fighting under Israeli and international pressure.
5. This phrase has been used by the likes of former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and former American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to garner support for the nascent Israeli state, and still (erroneously) informs the American public.
6. Sonderbehandlung, literally meaning special handling or special treatment, was a euphemism used in Nazi Germany for the murder of Jews. Avnery uses it here in its literal sense while invoking its previous connotations.
7. The Druze are a religious sect stemming from Islam. Although many consider themselves Muslim, many Muslims consider them a religion apart. They are most prevalent in Lebanon and Syria.
8. It is true that Arab citizens of Israel are accorded the rights of citizens under Israeli law (for example they may run for membership in the Knesset), but the