The Middle East 1974 - 2001

To understand the modern middle east we need to understand its history and geography. The middle east has always been an area of major importance.

It is the meeting point and crossroads of three continents. Africa, Europe and Asia. For this reason it has always been an important market for trade in goods, technologies and ideas.

It was the site of two of the early world civilizations, the Egyptians on the Nile and the Mesopotamians on the Tigris / Euphrates rivers.

Making it the origin of agriculture, writing and trade routes.

Three of the world' s major religions began in the region. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Jerusalem is of major significance to each of these religions and they share prophets, philosophy's and laws.

In the modern era the regions astonishing reserves of oil and gas give it a significant influence on regional and international relations.

The region is still an important cog in world transport networks, for example transit between the Indian Ocean and Europe is still controlled by Egypt.

1. Religion

Rapid religious prototyping

The Middle East is significant in the religious lives of Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Jerusalem in Israel is the center of this cross over.

The most sacred place in Judaism is the Wailing Wall, it is the surviving part of the Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

The two holiest sites in Christianity are in the Holy Sepulcher, the church on the site of Christs crucifixion and burial.

The Al-Asqa mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. It is where Muhammed ascended to heaven.

Activity 1. Getting to know you: Religion in the Middle East

Judaism

Jews didn’t start using the word “Jew” as a way to identify themselves until after 500 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible and the Torah, the text that is most sacred to Jews, the term used most often is “the sons or daughters of Israel,”

The term “Israelites” also appears, along with the term “Hebrews.”

Ancient Israelites originated roughly in the territory of modern Israel, also known as the ancient Levant or ancient Canaan, sometime before 1000 BCE. They believed they were descendants of Abraham.

The Romans destroyed the Temple in in Jerusalem in 70 AD to quell Jewish unrest and this led to the Jewish diaspora, Jews escaping the oppression under the Romans.

Christianity: A Jewish heresy?

Heresy: a theological doctrine or system rejected as false by ecclesiastical authority.

According to Bertrand Russell, proponents of a heresy emerge to deal with what they perceive as abuses in the contemporary practice of the dominant religion. The success of Christianity and Islam in the early days show how powerful the appeal of a reforming heresy can be when attacking an orthodoxy that is reluctant to reform.

In its very earliest days, Christianity was seen by the Jewish leaders as a Jewish heresy; its adherents were Jews who believed in the divinity of Christ [and considered Christianity a Jewish sect]. Jewish religious leaders viewed Jesus as a false prophet. When Christianity spread and became a world religion, with numerous converts from the Gentile (non-Jewish) world, it became a rival religion to Judaism.

Questions

When was the last historical Jewish empire in Israel.

Define a heresy with examples

How did the Jewish authorities view Jesus and the early Christians?

Did Jesus view himself as a Christian or a Jew?

What is the evidence for Mohammed and his teachings being viewed by Christian authorities as a heresy?

Why didn't the Islamic empires experience an 'Enlightenment' equivalent to the European Renaissance?

Islam: A Christian heresy?

In the year 610 A.D. a man named Muhammad began publicly preaching revelations received from the Angel Gabriel, the beginning of what we know today as Islam.

During the Early Middle Ages following Islam’s rapid expansion, Christendom largely viewed Islam as a Christian heresy and Muhammad as a false prophet. By the end of the Late Middle Ages, consensus had Islam grouped with paganism, and viewed Muhammad as inspired by Satan. Public opinion only shifted slightly after the Islamic empires ceased to be an acute military threat to Europe.

It is worth noting that Muhammad’s uncle was an Assyrian Christian monk by the name of Sergius who held heretical views including elements of Arianism and Nestorianism. It was from this relative that Muhammad likely was exposed to the Old and New Testament.

Is Islam a Christian Heresy? - UCatholic University

Questions

  1. When was the last historical Jewish empire in Israel.

  2. Define a heresy with examples

  3. How did the Jewish authorities view Jesus and the early Christians?

  4. Did Jesus view himself as a Christian or a Jew?

  5. What is the evidence for Mohammed and his teachings being viewed by Christian authorities as a heresy?

    For discussion.

  6. Why didn't the Islamic empires experience an 'Enlightenment' equivalent to the European Renaissance?

2. The Ottomans

Background briefing: The Ottomans

The Ottoman Empire, was created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia (modern day Turkey) it grew to be one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Ottoman period spanned more than 600 years and came to an end in 1922. It was replaced by the Turkish Republic and various successor states in south-eastern Europe and the Middle East.

At its height the empire encompassed most of south-eastern Europe to Vienna, including present-day Hungary, the Balkan region, Greece, and parts of Ukraine; portions of the Middle East now occupied by Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Egypt; North Africa as far west as Algeria; and large parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

The first period of Ottoman history was characterized by almost continuous territorial expansion, during which Ottoman dominion spread out from north west Anatolia. The political, economic, and social institutions of the classical Islamic empires were amalgamated with those inherited from Byzantium.

3. The Arabs revolt while the Europeans make secret plans.

Activity 2. The Arab revolt 1915 - 1918

England and France supported the Arab revolt against Ottoman rule in the Middle East that began in July 1915. It was encouraged by the British who wanted support in their campaign against the Ottomans. In return, the British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, promised that Britain would support Arab independence once Ottoman control had come to an end.

  1. What were the different promises made by the English to Arab tribes in 1915?

  2. Why was this a problem?

  3. What did France and England do in 1918? Use a map to illustrate your answer

  4. What was the significance of the Balfour declaration?

  5. How did the Arab tribes react to the new Mandates?

Background briefing: McMahon/Husayn agreement. 1915 -16)

At the start of the first World War (1914-1918), the Allied governments attempted to gain the sympathies of the Arabs with promises of independence from the Ottoman Empire and other foreign powers. The British High Commissioner in Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon (acting on behalf of the British Government) promised Sharif Husayn ibn Ali of Mecca Arab independence over purely Arab areas liberated from the Ottoman Empire. The correspondence between McMahon and Sharif Husayn contains 10 letters from (14 July 1915 to 30 March 1916) outlining the terms for Sharif Husayn allying himself to Britain and leading the Arab revolt on the Ottoman Empire in return for the support of Arab independence.

Activity 3: Sources - Drawing lines

Despite promising to support Arab independence after WW1, the British and French governments had made a secret agreement to divide and govern the ex principalities of the Ottoman empire in the Middle East after the war.

Source 1.The Sykes-Picot Agreement. The History of the Middle East - Peter Mansfield

‘'Sykes-Picot was a secret agreement to divide the middle east between Britain and France. When the Arabs learned about the agreement after it was published by the new Soviet government, they were scandalized by it. This secret arrangement conflicted with pledges already given by the British in the McMahon Correspondence (1915–16) to the Hashemite king Husayn. Based on the understanding that the Arabs would eventually receive independence, Ḥusayn had brought the Arabs of the Hejaz into revolt against the Turks in June 1916. However, the borders that were eventually established bear almost no resemblance to the lines drawn. The actions of Arab and Turkish nationalists, the demands of minorities, the ambitions of politicians, the collapse of czarist Russia, and the bankruptcy of Britain and France in aftermaths of the war shaped a Levant quite different from the one the two diplomats had envisaged.

Questions

  1. How did the English and French plans conflict with pledges made to Arab rulers during the war with the Ottomans in the Middle East (2)

  2. What happened to the plans in the original agreement and why? (2)

Source 2. Selected text: Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)

'It is accordingly understood that France and Great Britain are prepared to recognize and protect an independent Arab states or a confederation of Arab states under the suzerainty of an Arab chief. That in area (a) France, and in area (b) Great Britain, shall alone supply advisers or foreign functionaries at the request of the Arab state or confederation of Arab states.'

'The British and French government, as the protectors of the Arab state, shall agree that they will not themselves acquire and will not consent to a third power acquiring territorial possessions in the Arabian peninsula, nor consent to a third power installing a naval base either on the east coast, or on the islands, of the red sea.

Questions

  1. What is meant by the term ‘a confederation of Arab states under the suzerainty of an Arab chief’? (2)

  2. Explain the purpose of the agreement in respect to a 'third power.' (2)

Source 3. Learning from Sykes-Picot Agreement. www.wilsoncenter.org

‘Convinced that Arabs were not ready to govern themselves, the colonial powers also seemed to believe that they would remain passive. Instead, the high-handed approach of the European powers stirred nationalist reactions through the region, where currents of Arab nationalism had been evident for a long time. With the weakening of the Ottoman grip, nationalists gained prominence in Cairo, Damascus, and Baghdad.’

Questions

  1. What was the Arab response to the approach taken by the European powers?

Source 4. Learning from Sykes-Picot Agreement. www.wilsoncenter.org

‘The outcome of the war also made Sykes-Picot impossible to implement in the original form. Firstly, the formation of the League of Nations meant that the Arab territories Britain and France had viewed essentially as colonies or protectorates to remain under their control indefinitely became instead League of Nations mandates. The mandates, were temporary and carried the obligation to prepare the countries for independence. Secondly the British and French suffered economically after the war made them unwilling to invest much in the new territories. Thirdly, both countries were under pressure to demobilise troops.

Questions

  1. Briefly describe the three factors that made the Sykes-Picot agreement impossible. (3)

  2. How does Source 3. support Source 4.? (4)

4. Palestine after the Ottomans. 1922 - 1948

The British mandate in 7 points

  1. Establishment: The League of Nations gave Great Britain the Mandate for Palestine in July 1922.

  2. Dual obligation: Britain had a "dual obligation" towards both Arabs and Jews, creating an inherent contradiction in the mandate's objectives

  3. Balfour Declaration: The mandate incorporated the Balfour Declaration, which supported the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine

  4. Territory division: In 1921, Britain divided the region, creating Transjordan (now Jordan) east of the Jordan River and the Palestine Mandate to the west

  5. Immigration and land issues: The central conflicts throughout the mandate period were Jewish immigration and land purchases, with Jews attempting to increase both and Arabs seeking to halt them

  6. Violence and unrest: The mandate period was plagued with conflicts, including the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt and the 1944-1948 Jewish insurgency

  7. End: Following the UN Partition Plan in 1947, Britain ended its Mandate on May 15, 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed on the May 14.

Activity 4: Palestine. 1922 - 1948.

The British Mandate for Palestine (1922-1948) was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of Palestine and Transjordan. It incorporated the Balfour Declaration, supporting a Jewish national home, while obligating Britain to consider both Arab and Jewish interests. This dual obligation led to increasing conflict and ultimately British withdrawal.

To Do: Create a folio that explores the social, cultural and political upheavals of the British mandate in Palestine from 1918 to 1948.

You are encouraged to use primary sources to illustrate your folio (See below)

Choose six (6) of the following events for your folio:

  1. 1920: Riots between Jews and Arab in Jerusalem.

  2. Jewish migration to Palestine

  3. Arab nationalism and demands for self-governance

  4. 1927: The Peel commission

  5. 1929: Arab attacks on Jews

  6. 1936: Palestinian general strike

  7. 1936 -1939 The Arab Revolt

  8. 1939: British white paper on an independent Palestine

  9. The Haganah, the Irgun and the Stern Gang

  10. 1947: The UN partition plan