The Middle East and South Africa

Middle East Background

• Viewed as the cradle of civilization: Babylonians, Persians, Sumerians etc

• Many major religions started here: Judaism, Christianity, Islam

- Islam is the majority religion- 2 different sects – Shiite, and Sunni• Numerous ethnic groups: Arabs, Jews, Persians,

Turks, Kurds etc• Conflict has been a major problem in the region

Middle East Historical Overview

• Ruled by Ottoman Turk Empire until World War I• After World War I the Middle East was divided

between Britain and France- Divided in a way that set up future problems• After World War II many states gained

independence- Arab States: Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan etc.- Persian State: Iran

- Jewish State: Israel

A Jewish Nation is born

• In the ancient world Israel was a strong Jewish nation

• The Jews were conquered and spread throughout the world

• Following the Holocaust many Jews began returning to Palestine which was being administered by Great Britain

• The native Arab population (Palestinians) did not want to share the land with Israel

Zionism (add to notes)

• Belief that the Jews should have a homeland in Palestine

Israel continued

• After World War II the United Nations attempted to partition the land between the Jews and Arabs

- Arabs rejected the partition plan and war resulted (1947 independence war)

- Palestinians and 4 surrounding Arab nations invade Israel. Despite being heavily outnumbered Israel prevails. The Arabs refuse to recognize Israel. U.N. did recognize Israel.

- David-Ben-Gurion was the 1st prime minister of Israel.

The Arab point of view• After WWII Arabs wanted to set up strong states in the Middle East• They did not want to share Palestine with the Jews• The majority of Arabs are Muslim and claim Jerusalem as a capital

and holy city (so do the Israelis)• During the 1947 war over half the Palestinian Arabs fled the country

and today live in refugee camps hoping to some day return home.• Many Arabs are bitter over incidents such as the attack on Dair

Yasin which was a peaceful Arab village attacked and destroyed by Israeli soldiers during the war

• In the years after the war Palestinians and other Arabs refused to make peace with Israel.

• Following the the1947 war the King of Egypt was overthrown and Nasser became the President

The Arab Point of View Continued

• The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was set up to bring about a Palestinian State and destroy Israel

- Yasir Arafat was the 1st chairman of the PLO- Eventually the PLO dropped the goal of

destroying Israel and attempted to negotiate. - Today the PLO is one of the political parties that

struggles to lead the Palestinians. Arafat died and was replaced by Mahmoud Abbas.

The 1956 Suez Canal War

• In 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal and refused to allow Israeli ships to pass

• In a joint effort Great Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt and seized control of the canal

• The United States under Dwight Eisenhower demanded the fighting stop thus preventing the war from spreading to a world war

The 1967 6 days war

• Syria and Egypt received arms and support from the Soviet Union. The Soviets told them Israel might attack

• In 1967 Nasser threatened Israel by massing troops on the boarder. Syria also prepared for war

• Israel invaded Egypt, Syria and Jordan taking huge areas of land. The following was the land captured

- Golan Heights from Syria

- Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt

- West Bank of Jordan River and East Jerusalem from Jordan

- United Nation Security Council 242 demanded that Israel return these occupied territories and in exchange the Arabs were supposed to recognize Israel and refrain from future attacks. This resolution was not followed by either side.

Pan Arabism (add to notes)

• Nasser believed in this

• Total Arab unity (Arab state)

1973 Yom Kippur War

• In 1973 Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Yom Kippur – the Jewish holy day of atonement

- After some initial success the Israelis once again defeated the Arab armies

• The new Egyptian President Answar Sadat decided to talk peace with Israel

The Camp David Accords

• Answar Sadat traveled to Israel and addressed the Israeli government about establishing peace

• Eventually he and Menahem Begin signed a peace treaty known as The Camp David Accords

- Israel gave back the Sinai Peninsula- Egypt recognized Israel’s right to exist- The 2 countries opened diplomatic relationships• Many Arabs felt Sadat had betrayed them. He

was assassinated by Muslim extremists during a parade

The Palestinians

• In the 1980’s the Palestinians reacted to their frustration through the intifada which means uprising.

- massive civil disobedience • In the 1990’s the PLO and the Israelis started a peace

process known as the Oslo Accords- After some initial success the process ended and fighting

broke out. The Palestinians were granted some self government.

- Hamas is now the leading party in the Palestinian government. Israel will not negotiate with Hamas

Other Mid-East topics of interest

• In 1979 Iran became an Islamic Republic and remains so to this day

• In 1980 Iraq under Saddam Hussein invaded Iran leading to a bloody 8 year stalemate

• In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait and was expelled by a multinational force

• Many of the Arab countries belong to the oil cartel known as OPEC which controls about 70% of the worlds oil

• Modern Conflict with Al-Quida and occupation of Iraq

Afghanistan (add to notes)

• Taliban– Islamist militant group that ruled parts of

Afghanistan– Connection to Bin Laden– Ousted with US war on terror

South Africa

• For much of its modern history South Africa was ruled by a minority white government

- System of apartheid was used (total separation of the races)

- Apartheid was eventually brought down through efforts of men like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu

- Desmond Tutu wan a Nobel peace prize for his efforts and Nelson Mandella became the first black president of South African after spending much of his life in prison

F.W. DeKlerk (add to notes)

• President of South Africa who ended aprtheid

• Freed Mandella allowing for change in South Africa