1. 10.10 Lecture – Nation Building & the Middle East

2. I. Nation Building A. As a result of independence movements in Africa, Asia, and the Americas and growing anti-imperialist movements at home, most of the colonies of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United states were transformed into independent states. 1. Asian countries a. Newly independent states found themselves in possession of viable industries, communications networks, and education systems. 2. Africa a. Decolonized nations faced dire economic problems and internal disunity that resulted from language and ethnic differences. 3. Latin America a. Political independence had been achieved

3. B. The Middle East 1. Independence had come gradually to the Arab countries of the Middle East. a. Britain granted Syria and Lebanon independence after World War II. b. Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan enjoyed nominal independence between the two world wars but remained under indirect British control until the 1950s. 2. The desert countries remained dependent on British and later American financial aid. 3. Israel Becomes a State a. Palestine land consists of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip 1. Land Ownership i) Jews have had the land for 3,000 years when Jewish Kings ruled the region for Jerusalem. ii) Palestinians (Muslims & Christians) say the land belongs to them since AD 135 when the Jews were driven out. iii) Arabs (Muslim) say land belongs to them since their conquest in the 7th century.

4. b. Dispora – The global disperse of Jews from their land. 1. Zionists – Jews returning to their holy land. i) People who favored a Jewish national homeland in Palestine. c. British policy on Palestine between the wars oscillated between sentiment favoring Zionist Jews – who emigrated to Palestine, encouraged by the Balfour Declaration – and sentiment for the indigenous Palestinian Arabs, who felt themselves being pushed aside and suspected that the Zionists were aiming at an independent state. 1. As more and more Jews sought a safe haven from persecution by the Nazis, Arabs felt more and more threatened. 2. Arab and Jews confronted each other in riots or killings, making it clear that peaceful coexistence in Palestine would be difficult or impossible to achieve.

5. d. Britain conceded that it saw no way of resolving the dilemma and turned the Palestine problem over to the United Nations. 1. In November 1947 the General Assembly voted in favor of partitioning Palestine into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab. 2. The Jewish community made plans to declare independence, while the Palestinians, who felt that the proposed land division was unfair, reached with horror and took up arms. 3. When Israel declared its independence in May 1948, neighboring Arab countries sent armies to help the Palestinians crush the newborn state. i) Israel prevailed on all fronts. - Some 700,000 Palestinians became refugees, finding shelter in United Nations refugee camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip. 4. Israel won control of Jerusalem, which it had previously spilt with Jordan, and the West Bank. 5. Acquiring all of Jerusalem satisfied Jews’ deep longing to return to their holiest city, but Palestinians continued to regard Jerusalem as their destined capital, and Muslims in many countries protested Israeli control of the Dome of the Rock, a revered Islamic shrine located in the city. i) Jerusalem would become an international city belonging to no specific group.

6. 4. Israel and Arab States Continue in Conflict a. War will break out multiple times between the two nations; specifically 1956, 1967, 1973 1. UN resolution that was created never occurred b. The 1956 Suez Canal 1. War raged between Egypt and Israel and the aid of Britain over the control of the Suez Canal c. Arab – Israeli Wars Continue 1. Six Day War – 800 troops lost from Israel and 15,000 lost of Arabs i) Israel triumphed 2. Anwar Sadat, a leader of Egypt attacked on the Israelis on Yom Kippur, holist Jewish holiday. i) Did damage, but did not win

7. 5. The Palestine Liberation Organization a. PLO was created for the formation of a Palestinian State b. Headed by Yasir Arafat 1. Waged guerrilla war against Israel, frequently engaging in acts of terrorism. 2. The militarized Israelis were able to blunt or absorb these attacks and launch counterstrikes that likewise involved assassinations and bombings.

8. 6. Efforts at Peace a. Sadat wanted peace and set up relations with the prime minister of Israel b. Camp David Accords 1. Leaders meet with President Carter at Camp David to end 30 years of hostility between Egypt and Israel c. Israeli – Palestinian tensions Increase 1. Intifada – Palestinians began to express their frustrations in a widespread campaign of civil disobedience. Rather it means uprisings. i) Boycotts, demonstrations, attacks, etc. d. The Oslo Peace Accords 1. Declaration of Principles – agreement to grant the Palestinians self-rule in the Gaza strip and the West Bank. i) Success did not really occur

9. 7. Peace Slips Away a. Riots broke out again due to the Israeli leader Sharon visiting a Palestinian holy place the Dome of the Rock. b. The Conflict Intensifies 1. Suicide bombers were the new form of attack and terror. c. Working towards a solution 1. Peace is still a goal; talks still occurring 8. The phenomenal concentration of oil wealth in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates – was not fully realized until after World War II, when demand for oil rose sharply as civilian economies recovered.

10. a. In 1960, as a world oversupply diminished in the face of rising demand, oil-producing states formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to promote their collective interest in higher revenues. b. The Arab oil-producing countries voted to embargo oil shipments to the United States and the Netherlands as punishment for their support of Israel. c. The implications of using oil as an economic weapon profoundly disturbed the worldwide oil industry. 1. Prices rose – along with feelings of insecurity. 2. In 1974 OPEC responded to the turmoil in the oil market by quadrupling prices, setting the stage for massive transfers of wealth to the producing countries and provoking a feeling of crisis throughout the consuming countries.