Chapter 23

Southwest Asia

Section 1 -Creating the Modern Middle East

• Middle East also called Southwest Asia• A crossroads of trade, culture and most

importantly religion• 3 monotheistic religions: Judaism,

Christianity, and Islam• History - 10th century Seljuk Turks

ruled most of the Middle East, adopted Islam and ruled for 400 years until the Ottoman Turks took over.

• Central power in WWI

More on history

• After loss of WWI allies divide up the Ottoman Empire

• Britain and France gain control of much of the Middle East

• Peace Conference - Turkey and Saudi Arabia - independent

• France took Syria and Lebanon• Britain took Palestine, Jordan and Iraq as mandates

• Mandate - land to be governed by outside power until ready for independence

Arabs and Jews

• By the 40’s - Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon were independent

• 2 groups claimed Palestine - Arabs and Jews

• More Arabs than Jews• Zionists - Jews returning to the “Holy Land”

• Belfour declaration (1917) - Britain supported creation of a Jewish state

Palestine cont.

• Arabs are very upset at the Declaration - 70% of the population

• Self - determination - thought they could decide their own fate in Palestine

• Violence broke out, Britain started to limit the # of Jews entering

• 1947 - after the Holocaust, Jews wanted to come home to Jewish homeland

• Britain turned the problem over to the U.N.

U.N. solution• U.N. recommends Palestine be divided into 2

parts - Jewish and Arab state• Jerusalem would be an international city -

open to all• Jews accept it; Arabs upset - gave more and

the best land to Jews• David Ben - Gurion - leader of Palestinian

Jews announced the creation of Israel in 1948

• WAR began - Israel wins and Arabs lose their area

• Jordan and Egypt took the remaining Palestinian area - no land for Palestinian Arabs

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Chapter 23 - section 2Israel

• Monotheism - belief in one God• 1. Judaism - Hebrews• 5 Holy Books - Torah• Established the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel --

100 B.C.• Jerusalem - religious center• 2. Christianity - Region of Palestine - Bible• Teachings of Jesus - Jew• Crucified in Jerusalem - holy city• 3. Islam -Arabia - followers of Mohammad -

Koran• 622 - year one of the Islamic colander• Shiite - Ali (son in law) next prophet• Sunni - believe Muhammad never named a prophet

Islam

• 5 Pillars of Islamic faith• Muhammad - prophet, born in Mecca, Saudi

Arabia• 1. Hajj - journey to Mecca• 2. Ramadan - holy month• 3. Alms to the poor• 4. Creed (pledge faith to Allah)• 5. Pray - 5 times a dayMosque - Islamic place of worshipMuezzin - calls them to worshipMinaret - ladder to climb to the top of the

Mosque

More on the conflict in Middle East

• 1947 - British leave Palestine• War - after which 900,000 Palestinians

become refugees• 1974 - PLO (Palestinian Liberation

Organization) recognized by Arab League and the U.N. -- Yasser Arafat was the leader until his death in 2005 - today Muhammad Abbas is the leader

• Many wars between Arabs and Jews

Timeline of Conflict• 1947 - Divide Palestine• 1948 - British gone, Arabs declare war, lost

the war,lost land, lost homes• 1967 - Arabs attack again (6 days war) -

Israel takes control of Gaza Strip and West Bank - 1.5 million Palestinians live in that area

• 1978 - Camp David Accords - Israel allows autonomy in the Arab regions

• 1982 - Israel attacks camps in Lebanon• 1993- Yitzhak Rabin wins the Nobel Peace Prize

for working with Palestinians (Yasser Arafat)• 1995 - Rabin is assassinated by a Jewish

extremist

More on Israel

• West Bank- 2,270 Square miles• Gaza Strip - 25 miles long , 7 miles wide• 1 in 10 travel to Israel to work but are not allowed to stay overnight

• Golan Heights - Israel controlled, former part of Syria

• Jerusalem - disputed capital of Israel, Tel Aviv is the capital to the U.N.

• Ariel Sharon - former Prime Minister of Israel - he didn’t work well with Arafat

• Ehud Olmert - Prime Minister today

Visuals of Israel

Section 3 - Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and

Iraq• Fertile crescent - area of land between

the Tigris and Euphrates river to the Med. Sea - rich soil and earliest civilization

• Jordan - Amman • Dry, rocky desert - gained West Bank in

1948 war, lost it again in 1967 war• Wars have increased the Palestinian

population in Jordan• King Hussein began political reform• King Abdullah (his son) - leader,

modernized the country

Lebanon• Capital - Beirut - sometimes referred to the

Paris of the Middle East• Most Christian of the Middle East• Civil war - 1958 and 1975 - over religion

(Muslim and Christian) and power in the Gov. • PLO bases in Lebanon were used to attack

Israel (Jews)• Israel in return invaded (1982), they were

able to get to Beirut• 1983 U.N. peace keeping force came in, Marine

killed U.S. withdrew and chaos • Christians v Muslim militias (citizen army) • Lebanon in anarchy - lawlessness until the

90’s more peaceful now.

Syria

• Capital - Damascus• E. end of Mediterranean sea - access to

3 continents• Good farmland and improving methods• Water is a major concern and up river

damming by Turkey adds to the problem• Connections with terrorist cells• Pres. Bashar Assad - some political and

economic reform

Iraq

• Capital - Baghdad • Good farming between rivers• Rich in oil but until recently the Gov. controlled ALL revenue earned

• 1980’s war with Iran - cease fire in 1988• 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait and took border oil , 1991 Persian Gulf War (Desert Storm) coalition forces liberated Kuwait

• Hussein is sanctioned by the U.N. but breaks peace terms

• Economic embargo on oil

Iraq cont.

• Operation Iraqi freedom - U.S. announces the UN sanctions that Saddam has broken and the WMD that exist

• U.S. invades and captures Saddam Hussein - he is hung for crimes against humanity in Iraq, new Gov. is taking hold - slowly

• New President (2005) - Jalal Talabani• Kurds - ethnic group living in Northern Iraq - heavily persecuted by Hussein - many fled the country

Sect. 4 - Arabian Peninsula

• Surrounded by several bodies of water• Contains Rub’ al-khali (empty quarter) -

desert; least water; most known oil reserves• Oil discovered in the 1930’s - much wealth,

changes way of life for people• Desalination - used for drinking and

irrigation• OPEC - oil producing and exporting countries

- decide how much oil should be available and price - industries important -

oil won’t last forever

Saudi Arabia

• Cap. Riyadh • Used oil revenue for infrastructure needs - 1.2 trillion barrels of oil reserves

• Gov. - absolute monarchy (King Abdullah)

• Used irrigation and desalination -to improve ag.

• Modernized cautiously - women still have limited opportunities

• Mecca and Medina - sacred cities • Hajj - pilgrimage

Yemen and Oman

• Yemen - poorest and newest country in Arabian peninsula

• Port of Aden - economically important

• Ag. And herding• Oman -- desert - falaj system - system of underwater canals to irrigate

Section 5 - Turkey, Iran and Cyprus

• Turkey - Muslim but not Arab -custom and language is Turkish

• on Anatolian Peninsula• Lost a land after WWI• Mestafa Kemal - Turkish soldier , wanted independence for Turkey

• - he also removed Islamic law and placed it under European system - secular Gov. not based on religion

• -known as “Ataturk” - father of the Turks

• Large Kurd population

Iran• Capital - Tehran• Persians arrived 3,000 years ago• Persia part of the Islamic empire• Persian culture - Farsi - language of

ancestors• 1921 -Reza Khan seized power - declared

himself Shah - ruler• Opened schools, rr, industry• Mohammad Reza Pahlavi - took over during

WWII - modernized more, women could vote• Ayatollahs - religious leaders, thought

Iran should be governed in obedience to Islamic law

Islamic revolution in Iran and Cyprus

• 1979 - people of Iran revolted against the Shah (unequal wealth)

• Ayatollah Khomeini - new leader• Wanted Western culture out• Shiite branch of Islam - war with Iraq for

8 years (Sunni)• Khomeini died in 1989 - still conflict• CYPRUS - island country in the Med.• 4/5 Greek (Orthodox Christian) and 1/5

Turkish - Islamic Some wanted to join Greece, Turkey sent troops to prevent this - still claims a northern piece of island