Conflict in Mid-East and Central Asia

Final exam essay – May 31 – Complete Graphic organizer - Reminder • Review the Arab-Israeli conflict – any questions?. • On mrksmodernworld.pbworks.com important documents page for Unit 7 • Read the excerpt from President Obama. Identify 5 facts from this Unit that help to explain his speech. • Read the commentary from al-Jazeera and from the Washington Post. • Find 5 facts from this Unit that are related to these commentaries • Which commentary is right? Why? • Why should we care about the Central Asian countries? • Create a graphic organizer to help you understand the changes and events that occurred in Central Asia from the 1980s to the present as described in Chapter 18 section 5 – any questions • Work on Core 2 Conflict in Mid-East and Central Asia Enduring Understandings Long-standing cultural and religious differences and conflicts are still evident in the post-colonial world. Centers of global and economic and political power shift over time 3. The end of World War II led to the ending of colonization, the creation of new countries and conflict between the superpowers for influence.

Central Asia • How did the fall of the Soviet Union lead to instability in Central Asia? • Describe the challenges facing the Central Asian countries. • Who were the Taliban? Why were the Taliban able to gain political power in Afghanistan?

The Mid-East – misnamed but very important • The Middle East is actually the far Western part of Asia and parts of Northern Africa. • This area of the world is important for religious and energy reasons • But when there is reference to the Middle East conflict, the meaning is about conflict between Arabic countries and Iran versus Israel

History of Israel and Palestine • After WWI, Britain and France gained control of the former Ottoman Empire regions on the Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea • Britain’s “Mandate” was called Palestine

History of Israel and Palestine • Even before the British Mandate, many European Jews become Zionists (ideologues who wanted to recreate a Jewish homeland around Jerusalem) • Zionism was created in response to pogroms and anti-semitic violence by Europeans

History of Israel and Palestine • To better manage the Mandate, to gain allies in the Arab world and address the principles of the Balfour Declaration, the British mandate was divided into two parts. • Trans-Jordan was given to the Hashemite King Abdullah.

History of Israel and Palestine • After WWII, and after many Arabs allied with Germany (to get rid of Britain and the Zionist Jews in Palestine) Britain had too much trouble managing the mandate. • Britain gave the problem to the UN to solve • The UN proposed to divided the mandate into a Jewish country and an Arab one. • The Arabs voted against the plan and refused at the time to accept it.

History of Israel and Palestine • When David Ben-Gurion declared Israeli independence on May 14, 1948, the surrounding Arab countries invaded. This is the first Arab-Israeli War • Many of the Arabs living in the area partitioned as Israel left to avoid the fighting. • Some left because Arab armies told them to get out of the way • Some left because Israelis forced them to. • Arabs who left Israel are now called Palestinians, along with those Arabs living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip • Somehow the Israelis won the war

History of Israel and Palestine • The 1956 war was caused by conflict between Egypt, France and Britain over control of the Suez Canal as part of the Cold War. • Israel is encouraged to go on the offensive by the British and French. • The US orders all three to stop the war and give the land back to Egypt

History of Israel and Palestine • Egypt and the other Arab countries mass their troops on the Israeli border in preparation for an invasion. • Their stated goal was to destroy Israel and “Throw the Jews into the Sea” • Israel attacks instead and easily defeats all three armies in 6 days – hence the name of the war

History of Israel and Palestine • The result of the 1967 war was that Israel conquered 4 areas of land: • Golan Heights from Syria • Gaza Strip and • Sinai Peninsula from Egypt • West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan In 1973, Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Yom Kippur to recover the land lost in 1967. Israel is almost defeated, but it is able to fully defend itself

History of Israel and Palestine • As a result of Anwar Sadat’s request for peace, MenachemBegin’s willingness to negotiate, and the skill of Jimmy Carter to broker the deal, Egypt recognizes Israel as a country • Israel gives back the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt • The US gives both countries lots of money

History of Israel and Palestine West Bank– governed by Palestinian Authority Gaza Strip – governed by Hamas • The current situation is that the red areas are now governed by two different groups of Palestinians • Israel has maintained control of Jerusalem • Israel completely left the Gaza Strip, even forcibly removing Israeli settlers from their homes • Israel also builds settlements of Israelis in the West Bank – this is a key source of conflict • Israel also maintains a military presence in the West Bank that makes travel, work and life difficult for Palestinians

Conflict in Mid-East and Central Asia