Transcript Slide 1

Israel
The modern country of Israel was
established in 1948.
Many beliefs and
events led to its
creation including:
Zionism, Anti-Semitism,
and the Holocaust.
Zionism is a Jewish movement that began in
Europe in the late 19th century.
Its goal was to establish a Jewish homeland
in Palestine.
Theodor Herzl started the movement
and also led the first Zionist
Congress in 1897.
After World War I, the movement
grew in popularity.
In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour
Declaration, which stated that
Britain would work toward the
establishment of a national
home for the Jewish people
in Palestine.
The term Arab refers to a person who
speaks Arabic. Arabs live in many different
countries, but mainly in the Middle East and
North Africa.
Many Arabs did not support Zionism.
Nevertheless, the Jewish population in
Palestine continued to grow.
In just 30 years, from 1903 to 1933, the
Jewish population grew from 25,000 to
238,000 as Jews moved to the region.
In 1948, Zionism achieved its
goal with the creation of
Israel, the Jewish state.
European
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism is
hostility toward or prejudice
against Jews or Judaism.
In the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, anti-Semitism
began to spread throughout
Europe.
World War II
The events that led to the Holocaust
began in 1933.
From the time Adolf Hitler
became the chancellor of
Germany, the treatment of
Jews in Germany, and
Europe grew worse.
The policies of Hitler’s Nazi Party
slowly took away the rights of
Jews.
The government declared that Jews
were no longer German citizens and removed
them from their jobs, businesses, schools, and
homes.
By the end of the war, Hitler’s “final solution” to rid
the earth of Jews resulted in the murder of six million
Jews and the deaths of millions of other Europeans.
Often the Jews that could flee
Europe moved to
Palestine during this time.
The Holocaust ended with
Germany’s defeat in
World War II in 1945.
The Creation of Israel
The history of the Jews is traced back to the Tigris
& Euphrates Rivers, along other early civilizations.
In more recent times, Palestine was part of the
Ottoman Empire, until World War I.
After World War I and the end of the Ottoman
Empire, Britain ruled Palestine.
As more Jewish people moved into Palestine,
tensions with the Arabs increased.
Clashes became violent and more frequent.
ISRAEL
In 1937, the British created a plan to divide
up the land between the Arabs and Jews,
but both groups rejected it.
Although the US was not directly involved at
this time, they did believe that Jewish people
should be allowed to move to the area.
The United Nations supported the creation of
Israel after World War II.
Around 1936, one-third of the total
population of Palestine was made up of
Jewish immigrants.
The conflict between the Arabs and the Jews
continued to get worse.
In May of 1948, British rule of Palestine
ended and the state of Israel was officially
established.
Israeli and Arab
Conflict
May 15, 1948
That is the day when the
state of Israel was
declared and the last
of the British troops left.
The very next day, five Arab
armies from surrounding
countries invaded the
new country.
These forces were then
defeated by the Israeli army.
Over the next several years, the Arab countries
surrounding Israel competed to lead Arab forces
against the new Israel.
The Conflict Continues
In 1964, the Palestinian
Liberation Organization (PLO)
was formed.
The PLO was made up of several Palestinian
government groups from different countries.
Their goal was to take Palestine back from the Israelis
(Jews).
For the next several years, and still today, Israeli
and Arab forces have attacked and counter-attacked
one another.
Attempts at peace agreements have been made,
with the help of other nations, including the US.
So far, no treaty or agreement has been successful
in brining peace to the region.
On a piece of paper draw a line
down the middle of it. Label one
side Jews (Israelis) and the other
side Arabs (Palestinians). Write an
argument on each side as to why
you think your people should have
the rights to Israel. Support it with
facts and details. Each side should
be a paragraph long.
The Impact of Oil and Middle East Wars
Countries in North Africa and the
Middle East (Persian Gulf area)
export more oil than most other
countries in the world.
The control of oil reserves has been
an issue in many of the wars fought in
the Middle East during the late 20th
century (late 1900’s).
Many countries have been involved in
wars in the Middle East.
Iran – Iraq War
in 1980, the Iran-Iraq war broke out
because the two governments did not like
each other, and wanted each others oil
supplies
each country suffered a million casualties
the US had to send warships in the area to
protect their oil tankers from being attacked
by one of the two sides
in 1988, the war ended with a tie
Persian Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War was a war between
Iraq and a group of about thirty other
nations.
Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing oil by
drilling under the border between the two
countries, which was not true.
Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990,
under the direction of Iraqi
President/Dictator Saddam Hussein.
The Iraqi army took control of Kuwait in a
very short amount of time.
The United Nations (UN) responded to the
Iraqi invasion by demanding that Iraq
withdraw its troops from Kuwait.
The UN used the Iraqi economy to try to
convince the country to withdraw.
They did this by cutting off trade to the
country.
Iraq did not withdraw.
Many citizens of Kuwait fled the country
during the Iraq/Iran War.
The US and other countries began sending troops
to Saudi Arabia over the next few months.
The UN set a date for Iraq to leave Kuwait.
Iraq rejected this date and refused to back down.
The Iraqis remained in Kuwait after the date.
The US and other nations attacked the Iraqi forces
in January of 1991. The Iraqi army was defeated
in less than two months.
Iraq was then directed to recognize Kuwait’s
freedom and destroy all weapons of mass
destruction (WMDs).
Later, the claims of Iraq having weapons of mass
destruction were disproven.
US Invasion of Afghanistan
On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda attacked two
targets in the US.
Al-Qaeda is a group of extreme Islamic terrorists
based mostly in Afghanistan.
They Hijacked four airplanes and crashed two of
then into the World Trade Center in New York.
The third airplane crashed into the Pentagon in
Virginia, and the fourth crashed in rural
Pennsylvania, before reaching its intended target
of the White House or US Capital.
These terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
Investigations into the attack have
named Osama bin Laden as its
organizer.
US President Bush called on other
countries to help wage war on
terrorism.
The first goal of those nations that
joined the US was to find bin Laden,
whom they believed to be in
Afghanistan, even though most of the
people carrying out the attacks were
from Saudi Arabia or the UAE.
So far bin Laden has not been
captured
In October 2001, US and British troops
invaded Afghanistan in search of bin
Laden.
They bombed places where bin Laden was
known to be.
Millions of people from Afghanistan were
homeless because of the many wars that
have taken place in their country.
After the invasion, more than 3 million
refugees returned to their homes.
The US-led forces still struggle to control
portions of the country.
Iraq War
Saddam Hussein was still the president/dictator of
Iraq at the time of the invasion of Afghanistan.
Officials in the US government feared connections
between the Hussein regime and al-Qaeda.
They were afraid that Iraq was building weapons
of mass destruction, such as chemical or
biological weapons.
The UN sent inspectors to Iraq to check for
WMD’s.
In 2002, the US Congress passed an Iraq War
resolution that authorized the president to go
forward with a war in Iraq.
In March 2003, the US bombed targets in
the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
This effort was know as operation Iraqi
Freedom.
Saddam Hussein was captured after many
months and his rule ended.
He was sentenced to death and died in
2006, after being tried for killing 148
people.
He was also responsible for the deaths of
hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people,
most of them Kurds.
Literacy and Development
Education is free in many countries in Southwest
Asia.
Many students are required to attend school
through high school.
However, fighting often keeps students from
showing up at school.
Many students also live so far from the schools
that getting to school is difficult.
The literacy rates for people over fifteen years of
age are: 77% in Syria, 79% in Iran, 95% in Israel,
and 79% in Saudi Arabia.
The literacy rates in Israel are higher than in other
Southwest Asian countries.
In all of these countries, more men tend to be able
to read and write than women.
This is especially true in Syria, Iran, and Saudi
Arabia.
Overall in some countries women’s education
is not valued as much as men’s education.
Furthermore, women receive a different education
than men in some areas.
Literacy has a large impact on a county’s
development.
For example, an increase in the literacy rate often
leads to an increase in individual rights.
Literacy rates also have an impact on a county’s
economy.
Examples of Governments in
southwest Asia
Saudi Arabia is currently in the
process of change in their
government. The government is
currently a monarchy governed by the
Islamic beliefs, but in 2004 Saudi
Arabia began allowing men who were
21 and older to vote for some of their
officials.
Israel- Israel has a parliamentary
democracy. The head of the state
(President) does not have much powerIn fact much of the power lies in the
hands of the Israeli legislature or the
Knesset and their prime minister
Iran-Currently has a theocratic republic.
Government is based on religious
principles and the wishes of its peopleThe head of the state or the supreme
leader is known as the ayatollah