CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE EAST The Middle East can be described as a crossroads for people of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Great diversity of peoples, belief systems, and cultures These differences have often led to conflict The discovery of oil in the region brought power to some Middle Eastern countries. However, oil resources are not evenly distributed. As a result, many Middle Eastern countries have gone to war over control of oil rich lands.

GEOGRAPHY

A JEWISH STATE AMONG ARAB NATIONS Jews had begun to migrate to Palestine in the late 1800’s. Palestine included land in both Israel and Jordan After WWII, many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust migrated to Palestine, and the horrors of that time created a support for a Jewish homeland However, native individuals were already living in the Palestine Region. These individuals were known as Palestinian Arabs. Both the Jews and Arabs claimed a right to the land of Palestine, causing much conflict between the two groups.

CREATION OF ISRAEL In 1947, the United Nations drew up a plan to divide Palestine into two separate states. One state would be for the Jews, and the other state would be for the Arabs. The Jews accepted the plan, but the Arabs did not. Once the British withdrew from Palestine, the Jews proclaimed the independent state of Israel. The United States and the Soviet Union both acknowledged Israel as a state. Israel rapidly developed, and over 2 million Jews migrated to Israel

ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT When the state of Israel was created, Arabs vowed to drive the Jews out and restore Palestine as an Arab nation. The Arab nations of; Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria invaded Israel in an attempt to force the Jews out. Israel defeated the Arab nations Israel doubled its size due to its victory in the war. As a result of the war, 700,000 Arabs became refugees, and were forced to live in poverty. This discrimination faced by the Arabs fueled the formation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Yasir Arafat. This group was designed to use terrorist acts and guerilla warfare against the Israelites (Jews).

PEACE SETTLEMENT Fighting continued between the Arab nations and the Israelis (Jews). Most notably, in 1973, Egypt and Syria (Arab) launched a war against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. This attacked greatly angered the Israelis. Soon after, Egypt and Israel began to seek peace. In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords, which was an agreement to end war between Egypt and Israel. This agreement was important because it was the first effort of peace between the Arabs and Israelis (Jews).

IRAN-WHERE IS IT?

IRANIAN REVOLUTION In 1953, the United States and Britain organized a coup (overthrow) of the Iranian government. The reason for this was that the current leader of Iran, named Mohammad Mosaddegh, nationalized petroleum holdings (owned by US and British). This means that only the Iranian people could have access to this oil, not the US or British- angered both. Also, during the height of the Cold War, Mosaddegh was thought to be Pro-Soviet Union. So, the United States CIA and British MI6, orchestrated an overthrow of Mosaddegh. The new leader of Iran, supported by both the United States and the British, was Muhammad Reza Pahlavi

IRANIAN REVOLUTION Pahlavi proclaimed himself shah, or king of Iran. Pahlavi attempted to westernize and modernize Iran, which greatly angered the Iranian people. He ruled with absolute power as a dictator, and provided little money and resources to his people. In 1970, opposition was started against Pahlavi and the new Iranian government. The Iranians hatred of not only Pahlavi, but of the West (United States and British) grew with the lack of leadership and compassion for the people. Ayatollah Khomeini led the uprising and gained the support of the Iranian people, and eventually declared Iran an Islamic republic.

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC Under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranians returned to a strict Islamic way of life, known as Islamic Fundamentalism. Islamic Fundamentalists, or strict followers of Islam, believed that westernization and modernization were in direct conflict with the traditional Islamic way of life. Khomeini is considered a nationalist leader because he forced change in order to do what he felt was best for the Iranian people. Khomeini was an enemy of any foreign influence coming from the West, including the United States. Fifty-two American hostages were held against their will from 1979 to Islamic Fundamentalists are so religiously strict they have come in direct conflict with other Islamic nations, namely Iraq, over issues concerning oil and religious doctrine.

IMPACT OF THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION The new Iranian government was extremely hostile towards the West- western books, music, and movies were banned. The government required strict following of Muslim religious tradition (Islamic Religion). Many rights were taken away from women Iranian militants seized the American embassy in Tehran and held a group of Americans hostage for over a year.

SADDAM HUSSEIN AND IRAQ Under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, Iraq was involved in several conflicts in the Middle East Iran-Iraq War Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq took control over a disputed border area between Iraq and Iran. War broke out between the two nations Both nations began to attack oil tankers in the Persian Gulf The war ended in 1988, when Iran signed a cease-fire agreement sent by the United States. Persian Gulf War In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait in order to seize its rich oil fields The United States viewed the Iraqi invasion as a threat to the flow of oil. When Iraq refused to withdraw from Kuwait, the Persian Gulf War had started. The U.S. and its allies quickly won the war This conflict furthered the distrust between Iraq and the United States.