The Middle East

1
The Middle East

• Religion
• Politics

2
Judaism, Christianity Islam

• Similarities
• Belief in one God (monotheism)
• All 3 trace their roots to Abraham
• Palestine is the holy land
• Social Justice is key part of all 3 religions

3
Judaism

• Pentateuch / Torah
• 1st 5 books of the Old Testament
• Talmud collected decisions of the rabbis
• Forgiveness of sins depends on ones willingness
  to repent and do good deeds
• Orthodox vs Reform
• Zionism Jewish homeland
• Theodor Herzl Der Judenstaat
• West created after WWII to ensure a safe haven
  for Jews after the Holocaust (part a long history
  of anti-Semitism in Europe)

4
Christianity

• Belief that Jesus was the son of God
  differentiates it from Judaism
• Jews do not believe he was the Messiah
  prophesized in the Old Testament
• Tensions between Christians the other major
  religions
• Crusades for 300 years, Christians tried to
  wrest control of the holy land from the Muslims
• Brutal treatment of both Muslims Jews
• Holy Warriors Richard Saladin
• Inquisition tortured Jews to get them to convert
• Holocaust Hitlers determination to wipe out
  Jews

5
Islam

• 622 C.E. (common era) is Muslim year 1
• Koran is the Holy book of Islam
• Like other two, stresses the importance of social
  justice
• Key tenet unity of God (rejects the Trinity)
• Muhammad received revelations from the Angel
  Gabriel
• Abraham, Jesus Muhammad were prophets
• Jews Christians are also people of the book

6
Manji The Trouble with Islam

• Unlike Christianity,there has not been a Muslim
  reformation
• Manji argues that Islam has actually regressed
• Women used to play a larger role in Muslim
  society
• ijtihad lost tradition of independent thinking
• Unlike Judaism Christianity, only in Islam is
  literalism mainstream
• Islam needs to deal with treatment of women
  minorities (such as Jews)

7
Arab-Israeli conflict

• European colonial domination began to ebb by the
  20th century
• led to a rise of nationalism of Jews Arabs
• Palestine is the twice promised land
• Promised to both Arabs Jews
• Arabs refused to recognize Israel (which was
  created by European powers) attacked
• Israel won independence 1967 war conquered West
  Bank Gaza Strip
• Egypt, Jordan Turkey have decent relations now
• For more on Palestine, go to http//www.un.org/Dep
  ts/dpa/qpal/

8
Jewish Arab Nationalism

• Dreyfus affair illustrated anti-Semitism in
  France
• Jewish Nationalism was originally not about
  religion, but ethnicity
• Balfour declaration promised the creation of
  Jewish state in Palestine
• Arab Nationalism was also originally about
  self-determination, not religion
• Emir Faisal accepted the Balfour declaration, but
  only paired with Arab independence, which was
  reneged upon by the British
• the fact that the leader of the Arab nationalist
  movement and the Zionist movement could reach an
  understanding is significant because it
  demonstrated that Jewish and Arab aspirations
  were not necessarily mutually exclusive. from
  http//www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/faisal_ba
  lfour.html

9
Israel A Jewish State or a State made of Jews?

• Parliamentary democracy
• Israeli Arabs can vote, but discrimination is
  getting worse
• Palestinians in the West Bank Gaza cannot vote
• Likud (hard-line party) currently dominates
• Minor parties play an important role
• Settlements the Palestinian issue
• Undivided Jerusalem?
• Al Aqsa incident
• Israel is a modern, mostly democratic country
• Settling the Palestinian issue is most important
  for getting Israels economy back on track

10
Comparative Islam --Egypt

• dictatorship since Sadats 1981 assassination
• Stable only b/c of repression
• Mubarak has never ended the state-of-emergency
• Islamic fundamentalism is a major problem
• esp. since Egypt signed 1979 peace treaty with
  Israel
• July 2000, Egypts High Constitutional Court
  ruled that judges must oversee elections
• Go here for more info on Islam in the Middle East
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/
  03/islam_around_the_world/html/middle_east_sa.stm

11
Iran

• Sharia is foundation of Iranian law
• Struggle between reformers fundamentalists
• 1997 Khatami (reformer) won elections, but
  wasnt able to get laws through
• Council of Guardiansreligious leaders that
  oversee the government
• 2004 reformers boycotted elections after
  hardliners blocked many of their candidates from
  running
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/35145
  51.stm

12
Turkey

• Ataturk westernized (secularized) Turkey
• democratic, but some human rights issues
• Kurds
• Why was Turkey so opposed to US invasion of Iraq?
  
• Recep Erdogan (Muslim Justice Devel Party)
  won 2002 election http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world
  /europe/3579467.stm
• 34 of the vote got 363 of 550 seats, but has
  not made any radical changes
• in the past, the military has often stepped in
  when Turkey moved away from secularism

13
Saudi Arabia

• Saudi family dynasty
• King Faud suffered a stroke in 1995, so Crown
  Prince Abdullah runs the show
• Rigidly traditional political social system
• Wahhabi interpretation of Islam (strict)
• Therefore, no need for a constitution
• Mistreatment of women minorities
• Dependence on oil revenues keeps its economy
  overly linked to oil prices
• reverse oil crisis in the 1980s caused a drop
  in oil revenues by ½
• Made huge profits during Iran-Iraq war
• Dependent on US for protection
• ironically, US support for Saudi Arabias corrupt
  regime is one reason for Bin Ladens anger at the
  US