Modern Middle East

Abrahamic Religions

* Judaism, Christianity, Islam
* Believes that Abraham was the first prophet
* Monotheistic

Polytheism

Worship of more than 1 God

Monotheism

Believes in only 1 God

Islam

* Born in 600s C.E. on Arabian Peninsula
* Muhammad is the final prophet
* Means “submission to the will of Allah”
* The name of the religion

Muhammad

* the Final prophet in the Islamic religion


* Founder of Islam

Allah

* Means “God” in Arabic
* What Muslims call their God

Mosque

Muslims’ place of worship

Imam

A spiritual leader in Islam

Kaaba

* Most sacred sight in Islam
* At the center of Islam’s most important mosque
* In Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Mecca (now)

* Today more than 15 million Muslims visit
* Holiest city in all of Islam

Medina

* Where Muhammad and his followers fled to
* In Saudi Arabia
* City of the prophet in honor of Muhammad’s life and death there

5 Pillars of Islam

* The creed
* Prayer
* Fasting
* Pilgrimage
* Almsgiving

Hajj

* Each Muslim should do this at least once in their life time
* The annual sacred pilgrimage that starts and ends in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia
* Can take as long as several months, and sometimes years

Caliph

* A leader with religious and political power
* Leader of Islamic community

Abu Bakr

* Who Sunni supported
* A loyal friend of Muhammad
* The first Rightly Guided Caliph

Ali

* He lost to Abu Bakr
* Who Shia supported
* The 4th Rightly Guided Caliph
* The cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad
* Was assassinated

Sunni

* Supported Abu Bakr
* Do not believe that the caliph has to be related to Muhammad

Shia/Shiites

* Supported Ali
* Believe that caliph should be related to Muhammad

Misconceptions surrounding Islam

* Suicided bombers
* War
* Violence

Anti-Semitism

Hostility or discriminations against Jews

Blood Libel

The accusation that Jewish people used the blood of Christian children to drink and to bake matzoh

Black Plague

* Came to Europe in 1347
* Killed 20 million people in 4 years
* 20% - 30% of the population was killed
* Jews were blamed for this

Russian Pogroms

* Russian sponsored Anti-Jewish Riots
* 1/3 converted
* 1/3 were killed
* 1/3 fled the country

Fall of the Ottoman Empire

* Many Palestinians expect independence
* One of the many causes from WWI
* Known as “Sick Man of Europe”

Dreyfus Affair

* A political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 -1906.
* Symbolizes modern injustice


* One of the most notable examples of antisemitism
* Captain Alfred Dreyfus (a 35 year old Jewish French officer) was convicted of treason
* He was falsely convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris

Zionism

The creation of a Jewish Homeland in the Holy Land

Theodor Herzel

* Founder of Zionism
* Promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state.

Pan-Arabism

Supports the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea

Sykes-Picot Agreement

A secret treaty signed by British and French in 1916, dividing up the Ottoman Empire’s holdings in the Arabian Peninsula once WWI was won.

Hussein-McMahon Letters

A series of letters sent during WWI that promised Arab independence after the war if they supported the British against the Ottomans.

Balfour Declaration

Public Statement Issued by British government in 1917, supporting the creation of a Jewish State in the Middle East.

Holocaust

* Most Anti-Semitic act in history
* 1933–1945
* Systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators.
* Leader: Hitler

UN Resolution 181

* 1947
* The UN approved a plan to Partition British Palestine in 2 separate states
* Creation of Israel

Israel

* The Jewish state
* Proclaimed in 1948
* Expands until 1967
* Created due to the First Arab-Israeli War

Palestine 

The Arab state

Jerusalem

* Jews
* Christians
* Muslims

Abdel Nasser

* Takes control of Canal - Suez Crisis
* Second president of Egypt

Suez Canal & Crisis

* Abdel Nasser takes control of Canal away from Great Britain
* Great Britain vs. Egypt
* 1956

Sinai Peninsula

Israel gained this when launched a sudden air assault in 1967

Six Days War

* 6 days long
* 1967
* Israelis struck airfields in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, & Syria
* Location: Gulf of Aqaba
* Results:
* Israel gains control of the Old City of Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, and West Bank
* Palestinians in Jerusalem given choice Israeli or Jordanian citizenship
* Palestinians in Jerusalem in other areas under Israeli control
* Refugee issues

Golan Heights, West Bank, Gaza Strip

Israelis gained control of these areas after the Six Day War

Mecca (then)

* Center of polytheistic worship
* Temples were surrounded by gambling dens and brothels
* Violence was common

5 major World religions

* Judaism
* Christianity
* Islam
* Hinduism
* Buddhism

The Islamic Holy Book

* The Koran
* Muhammad’s teachings
* 114 Surahs (chapters)
* Meant to be communicated orally
* The most memorized book in the world
* God is the speaker throughout the book

Where did Muhammad flee to?

From Mecca to Medina

Muslim

* Means “one who has submitted”
* the practitioner of Islam

Sharia Law

A system of laws that regulates family life, morals, and business conduct

Jihad

* Means struggling
* Used to described different types of struggles
* Interpreted in 2 different ways
* Unofficial 6th pillar

Jihad: Interpretation 1

* Holy War
* The struggle to defend Islam
* Outer struggle

Jihad: Interpretation 2

* Being a better person
* Living a better life
* Being more faithful
* Inner struggle

Where were Jews banished from?

* England: 1290
* France: 1306
* Spain: 1492

Anti-Semitism Thorough history

* Diaspora
* The Spanish Inquisition
* The Black Death
* Russian Pogroms
* The Holocaust

Scapegoat

A person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others

At the end of WWI many European Jews move to where?

Holy Lands

When is the state of Israel proclaimed?

May 14th, 1948

PLO

* Palestinian Liberation Organization
* Made up of Palestinians that want their own state
* Wants to destroy Israel

Arafat

* Becomes chairman of PLO in 1969
* Part of Fatah

Pre-emptive war

To strike your enemy before they strike you

Fatah

* A party within the PLO
* Arafat was part of this party

Umma

Islamic community

Refugee

Someone who has to leave their home for their safety