Intifada Hebrew, a glossary
By Bradley Burston, Haaretz Correspondent
Haaretz, November 23, 2004
What a difference a war makes. In particular, a new kind of war.
Each of its seven major wars with its Arab neighbors has left Israel a different country. Every conflict has left its mark on the way Israelis view themselves, their nation, their place in the world, their still-emerging culture of the arts and music.
Not least, every war has altered the ways in which Israelis speak their language, the ancient Biblical tongue that can take on new colors and rhythms and slang by the hour.
The following is an abridged guide to Intifada Hebrew, Israeli terms which have gained currency in the parallel reality that has gripped both sides of the Holy Land divide during the Palestinian uprising, the atmosphere of horror-at-home and simultaneous denial of the enemy's plight.
It also includes political expressions, notably the ingeniously devised term "Hitnatkut" and its psychobabble-derived English counterpart, Disengagement.
HITNATKUT
Literally, Unhooking oneself, Disconnecting oneself.
Commonly translated as Disengagement.
The formal term for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to uproot established settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the first time since the territories were captured in 1967.
Not to be outdone by the coinage, settlers and their allies on the right have countered with a buzzword of their own:
HIT'CHABRUT
Literally, Hooking Up, Getting Connected
Commonly, rallying to the side of the settlers slated for evacuation in all 21 settlements of the Gaza Strip and four small enclaves in the northern West Bank.
The term is more than a mere antonym for Disengagement, because it is intended to encourage Israelis to feel a bond to areas that many have long considered beyond the borders of the Jewish holy land, in particular the once-Philistine Gaza Strip.
INTIFADA
In literal Arabic, A Shaking-Off
A word connoting both the Palestinian uprising and, in slang Hebrew, an actively chaotic mess, as in boisterous, ceramics-damaging play by children. (See also: Merkaz HaLikud).
MACH'BESAT MILIM
Literally, the Word Laundry
Attributed to novelist David Grossman, the concept of the laundering of language is the Israeli counterpart to Pentagonese, employing technical terminology or elaborate jargon to describe an unpalatable reality, event or practice.
See: "Sikul Memukad"
MERKAZ HALIKUD
Literally, the influential, independent-minded, uninhibited Likud Central Committee
In slang use, a riotous meeting, especially one disrupted by catcalls, booing, profanity, even hurled furniture.
MUR'AL
Literally, Poisoned.
Describes Israeli military recruits besotted with army life, training, and combat.
Also used to describe the phenomenon of leftist Israeli youth who, after they have mulled ducking or refusing compulsory army service, volunteer for patently dangerous, potently proactive elite commando reconnaissance units.
PE'ILUT YEZUMA
Literally, Initiated Activity
Describes a wide range of IDF military operations, often supported by Shin Bet security service agents and Border Police, from search and arrest raids and house demolitions to large-scale armored incursions deploying armor, assault helicopters and thousands of infantry troops.
P'TZATZA MITAKTEKET
Literally, Ticking Bomb
Often used to describe the target of a Sikul Memukad (see below). The term, originally understood to designate suicide bombers en route to an attack, or gunmen preparing for a drive-by killing, had its public origins in official responses to Washington's calls for curbs on assassinations.
Israel's position was that assassinations were employed only in cases of "ticking bombs." In practice, the meaning of the term was broadened to include ostensibly political and spiritual leaders of armed groups such as Hamas, as well as suspected bomb makers and planners of terror missions.
SIKUL MEMUKAD
Literally, Focused Prevention
The practice of government-approved Israeli military assassinations of suspected commanders or operatives of Palestinian organizations, militias, and cells engaging in attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
In fact, also something of a play on words, as a different Sikul, spelled differently but pronounced the same, refers to the ancient practice of execution by stoning.
Also known as Hisul, or Liquidation.
VIDU HARIGA
Literally Confirmation of Killing
Refers to the alleged practice of soldiers shooting at close range at the prone, wounded body of an enemy after combat has subsided.
It is a concept which long preceded the Intifada. But for the first time, an IDF soldier, an officer commanding an outpost in the southern Gaza Strip, has been court martialed after allegedly emptying an entire magazine of assault rifle bullets into the body of a mortally wounded 13-year-old girl.
