CHAPTER 16: SOUTHWEST ASIA

1. CHAPTER 16:SOUTHWEST ASIA OIL, WATER, and CONFLICT In the DESERT

2. THE MIDDLE EAST • Turkey • IRAQ Saudi Arabia Egypt Kuwait Iran Yemen Syria Jordan Israel Lebanon Oman Qatar • United Arab Emirates

3. The Power of Oil! • 65% of World’s oil comes from North Africa and Middle East. • OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) is a powerful group that tries to control oil prices worldwide. • Many people claim that America is only interested in Middle Eastern Oil.

4. The Thirst for Water • Middle Eastern and North African countries have very high populations, but very little water to drink. • Many of these countries use their oil to boil sea water into steam, then drinking the condensed steam. This is called desalination. • Much of the oil money is also used to buy food and water for its growing population.

5. ISLAM • Muslims believe in one God (like the Jews and Christians); the Muslim name for God is Allah. • Muhammad was a camel driver who spoke to the Angel Gabriel in the Arabian desert. • He started his religion in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This is the holiest city in Islam. • Muslims are not allowed to paint pictures of Allah. This is the Arabic symbol for “Allah”. • Islam is a “peaceful” religion not much different than Christianity or Judaism.

6. ISLAM • Nearly everyone in this part of the world is Muslim. • There is no separation of church and state in many of these countries. • Islamic laws require women to cover their bodies and faces in public. Sometimes they are not allowed to leave the house. • Many people are tortured or killed for religious or political reasons.

7. 2 Types of Islam • SHIITE Muslims (Majority in Iran and Iraq) • SUNNI Muslims (Majority everywhere else)

8. The Five Pillars of Islam • Stating the Faith • Prayer 5 times/day • Charity to poor • Pilgrimage (Hajj) • Fast during Ramadan • Muslims worship at a Mosque Mecca, Saudi Arabia Holiest city in Islam

9. Took over by force in both Iraq and Syria. Ideas based on: Socialism: a system in which the government controls farms and businesses. Arabic Nationalism: the idea that there should be one united Arabic country. The Ba’ath Party

10. Iraq invaded Iran in 1980. The war lasted 8 years. Saddam Hussein killed millions of people using nerve gas and other weapons of mass destruction. Neither country won the war and both were weaker at the end. The Iran-Iraq War

11. After the war against Iran, Iraq easily conquered its neighbor, Kuwait Iraq wanted Kuwait’s oil and natural gas The US, under president George H.W. Bush, attacked Iraq and expelled his army from Kuwait The US did not arrest or assassinate Saddam because it did not want to be stuck fixing Iraq’s problems for many years. Gulf War 1991

12. The Gulf War severely damaged the environment. Saddam’s troops lit oil wells on fire that burned for months. The Persian Gulf was flooded with oil and burned Weather was affected as far away as Europe. Environmental damage

13. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers create a fertile area This is called the Fertile Crescent Historians say civilization began here in Mesopotamia The cities of Sumer rose here around 3500 BC. Ancient Middle East

14. Inventions: The Wheel The Plow The Sail Geometry Arithmetic Written Language Ancient Sumerian Culture • The tablet of Gilgamesh Circa 2750 BCE

15. Sailed the Mediterranean to spread their culture Created a phoneticalphabet like the one we use today. Phoenicians

16. Israel • When the Romans expelled the Jews from Israel 2000 years ago, Jews spread out around the world. • Jews who believed in a homeland in Israel (Palestine) are called Zionists. • After millions of Jews died in the Holocaust, during World War II, many fled Europe and landed in Palestine. • The Jews and the Palestinians have fought over this land ever since.

17. Intifada • The Palestinians have been without a country of their own for half of a century, ever since the Jews arrived. • As Israel prospers, the Palestinians suffer. They refuse to cooperate with Israel or recognize it as a real country. • After losing a series of wars with Israel involving many neighboring countries, the Palestinians have resorted to terrorism against civilians. • This Palestinian terrorist war against Israel is called the Intifada

18. US Involvement • The United States supports Israel’s “right to exist” and we sell them weapons. • Many of the anti-Zionist terrorists feel that America is to blame for Israel’s power. This is biggest reason they attack us. • America has tried to make peace in the Middle East for half of a century. We do this to protect our interests economically, politically, and militarily, so politicians feel they have no choice. • Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have made Middle East peace even more important to America.