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I. Introduction to the Middle East

What is the Middle East?

  • Coined by the British in the 19th century
    • The middle of the Ottoman Empire and British India
  • Gained popularity after WW2
  • Includes Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia, and Palestine
  • Meaning shifts with time and context

The Challenges of Diversity

  • Dozens of ethnic groups, religious, and languages
  • The largest ethnic group is Arabs
    • A term referring to people originally from Arabian Peninsula
    • Follow various religions: not all Arabs are Muslims and vice versa

Three Abrahamic Faiths

  • The Middle East is the source of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity
    • Today, the Middle East is predominantly Muslim
    • 90% Sunni, 10% Shia (Iran and Iraq)
  • Three faiths coexisted and competed for control of the “holy land”
    • Crusades
    • Jerusalem

Claims to the Holy Land

  • Judaism claims the territory it calls the Promised Land
    • Promised by Yahweh
    • Significant events in the development of the religion
    • Holiest site: Western Wall, the only extant structure from the Second Temple
  • For Islam, Jerusalem is the third holiest city after Mecca and Medina
    • Holiest site: Dome of the Rock (Al-Aqsa Mosque)
    • Believed to be where Muhammad ascended to heaven and spoke to Allah
  • Christianity considers Jerusalem to be a holy city
    • Major events in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection
    • Church of the Holy Sequlchre is said to be the site where Christ was crucified and to contain Christ’s empty tomb

The Ottoman Empire

  • Starting in the 1500s, the Ottomans controlled what is now the Middle East
    • Turkey and parts of southeastern Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern Asia
    • Essentially the east Roman Empire
  • Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)
    • A secret treaty between France and Britain to split Ottoman territory after WW1
    • Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Persian Gulf, and Suez to Britain, Syria and Lebanon to France

Mandate System

  • System to look over the remnants of the Ottoman Empire by European powers until they have a government
    • Intended to be temporary
    • Caused political instability and conflict in the Middle East

Mandates Gain Independence

  • Post WW2, the mandates became independent nations
    • Syria, Iraq, and Jordan
    • Palestine was partitioned into Arab areas and Israel
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