History 32-3
al Fatah
A guerrilla movement called al Fatah, led by the PLO political leader Yasir Arafat, began to launch terrorist attacks on Israeli territory. In retaliation, the Israeli government began to raid PLO bases in Jordan
Six-Day War End with al-Sadat
Arab states demanded the return of the occupied territories. In 1970, Nasser died of a heart attack and was succeeded by his Anwar aI-Sadat. Sadat was more moderate than Nasser and sought to sign a peace treaty with Israel on the condition that the latter retire to its pre 1967 frontiers.
Great Britain's View of Jews
As tensions between Jews and Arabs intensified during the 1930s, Great Britain, which had a mandate in Palestine, began to limit Jewish immigration into the area and firmly rejected Jewish proposals for an independent state in Palestine.
Compromise between Egypt and Israel with the US
In 1976, Jimmy Carter began to press for a compromise peace. He asked the Israelis to return the occupied Arab temptones in exchange for Arab recognition of the state of Israel. President Sadat of Egypt announced his willingness to seek peace. In September 1978, President Sadat met with Menachem Begin, Israel's prime minister, and President Carter at Camp David in the US. Both sides agreed to the Camp David Accords, an agreement to sign an Israeli-Egypt peace treaty that would end the war between, Israel would withdraw from the Sinai, but not from other occupied territories until it was recognized by other Arab countries.
Cause and Effects of Scientific Socialism
In Nasser's view, through Arab unity, wealth could improve the standard of living in the Middle East. Natural resources and industries would be nationalized and central planning could guarantee efficiency, creating scientific socialism. Nasser's desire brought an end to the UAR. When his government announced the nationalization of industries and utilities in 1961, a military coup overthrew the Ba'ath leaders in Syria. The new leaders then withdrew Syria from its union with Egypt.
Netanyahu and his Relations with Palestinians
In November 1995, Israel's Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli opponent of the accords, replaced by Benjamin Netanyahu, adopting a tougher stance in negotiations with the Palestinian authority under Yasser Arafat.
Iraq in Kuwait and International Outcry
In early August 1990, Iraqi troops moved across the border and occupied the small neighboring country of Kuwait and argued that it was legally a part of Iraq, sparking international outcry. President George Bush amassed an international force that freed Kuwait and destroyed a large part of Iraq's armed forces. The allies hoped that an internal revolt would overthrow Hussein. In the meantime, harsh economic sanctions were imposed on the Iraqi government.
Khomeini
Leading the opposition was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeini attacked in print, on television, and in radio broadcasts. When workers' strikes grew in intensity in 1979, the shah left the country. The shah's government collapsed and was replaced by a hastily formed Islamic republic. The new government, under Ayatollah Khomeini, began to rid the country of Western influence and restore traditional Islamic law. Supporters of the shah were executed.
Soviet Invasion
Shortly after Khomeini's rise to power, Soviet military forces moved into Afghanistan in 1979 to prop up a weak Soviet-supported regime.
Six-Day War
By the spring of 1967, Nasser had stepped up his military activities and imposed a blockade against Israeli shipping through the Gulf of Aqaba. Fearing that it was going to be attacked, on June 5, 1967, Israel suddenly launched air strikes against Egypt and several of its Arab neighbors. Israeli armies broke the blockade at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, occupied the Sinai peninsula, seized Jordanian territory on the West Bank of the Jordan River, occupied the whole of Jerusalem, and attacked Syrian military positions in the Golan Heights area. In this brief Six-Day War, Israel devastated Nasser's forces and tripled the size of its territory.
Suez War
Concerned over the the threat to their route to the Indian Ocean, Great Britain and France, joined by Israel, launched an attack on Egypt, starting the Suez War of 1956. The US and Soviet Union supported Nasser, forcing them to withdraw their troops from Egypt.
Infitilda and its Cause
During the early 1980s, Palestinian Arabs became more militant, leading to unrest, the intifada (uprising), among PLO supporters living inside Israel.
Palestine Liberation Organization
During the mid 1960s, Egypt was active in promoting Arab unity against Israel. The Egyptians took the lead in forming the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to represent the interests of the Palestinians, believing that only the Palestinian peoples had the right to form a state in Palestine.
King Farouk and Nasser
Egypt was not an Arab state. However, King Farouk, who had come to power in 1936, supported the Arab cause. In 1952, King Farouk was overthrown by a military coup led by Nasser, who replaced the monarchy with a republic. Nasser then took control of Egypt and began a land-reform program to help the peasants, adopted a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs, and showed sympathy for the Arab cause, especially upset with Great Britain.
Nasser and the Suez Canal
Even after it had granted Egypt independence in 1922, Britain had kept control over the Suez Canal to protect its sea route to the Indian Ocean. On July 26, Nasser suddenly nationalized the Suez Canal Company, which had been under British and French administration.
Iraq Attacking Iran
Iraqi forces suddenly attacked along the Iranian border. Iraq and Iran had long had religious differences. Both were Muslim nations, but the Iranians were Shi'ites, whereas Iraq held Sunnites. Iran and Iraq had argued for years over borderlands next to the Persian Gulf. Iraq had long dreamed of unifying the Arabs. During the 1970s, Iran had given some support to a Kurdish rebellion in the mountains of Iraq but stopped in return for some land at the head of the Persian Gulf. Five years later, Iraq had crushed the Kurdish revolt.
The Knesset
Israel established a parliament, the Knesset, on the European model. Each political party received a number of representatives based on how many votes each party received in the general election (proportional representation). As a result, moderate leaders, such as longtime prime minister David Ben Gunon, had to cater to the wishes of small parties to stay in power.
Israel Foreign Policy
Israel was alone except for the sympathy of the United States and a few European countries. It adopted a policy of quick and strong response to any hostile act by its Arab neighbors and the PLO.
Lebanon and Jordan
Jordan, occupied by bedouins (nomads), was now flooded by the arrival of urban Palestinians. Lebanon had been created to provide Christians with a country. The arrival of Palestinian refugees upset the delicate balance there between Christians and Muslims. The creation of Lebanon angered the Syrians, who had lost it.
Khomeini's Demands, Death, and new gov
Khomeini demanded that the shah be returned to Iran for trial and that the US apologize for acts against the Iranian people. The US. stopped buying Iranian oil and froze Iranian assets. In July 1980, the shah died. After the death of Khomeini in 1989, a new government, under President Hashemi Rafsanjani, began to loosen clerical control over freedom of expression and social activities. Rising criticism of rampant official corruption and a high rate of inflation, however, sparked a new wave of government repression in the mid-1990s.
American Embassy in Tehran
Much of the attention of the outside world focused on the American Embassy in Tehran, where militant Iranians held a number of Americans hostage, as the US was held responsible for the corruption of Iranian society under the shah.
Nasser and pan-Arabism
Nasser turned to pan-Arabism, or a belief in Arab unity. In 1957, the Ba'ath Party, which advocated a union of all Arab states in a new socialist society, assumed power in Syria. Egypt formally united with Syria in the United Arab Republic (UAR), with Nasser as president.
Iran and its Economy
One of the key oil-exporting countries was Iran. Under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was helped by the American CIA, Iran had become one of the richest countries in the Middle East. The shah's efforts increased per capita income, improved literacy rates, and an affluent middle class emerged in the capital of Tehran. However, many peasants were still landless, many people did not have jobs, and the urban middle class felt squeezed by high inflation.
Kings of Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia on pan-Arabism
Other Arab leaders, including the King of Jordan, Hussein, and the kings of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, were suspicious. The kings of Iraq and Saudi Arabia feared pan-Arabism, thinking they would have to share their oil revenues with the poorer states of the Middle East.
Hussein Launches Attack
President Saddam Hussein (Iraq) launched an attack on his neighbor. The US and the Soviet Union watched nervously in case it spread. A ceasefire was finally arranged in the fall of 1988.
Religious Discontent in Iran
Some of the unrest that developed took the form of religious discontent between Muslims and the new Iranian civilization. Some opposition elements used terrorism against wealthy Iranians or foreigners to provoke political disorder. In response, the shah's security police, the Savak, imprisoned dissidents.
US Sympathy for Jews
Sympathy for the Jewish cause grew and when Zionists turned for support to the United States, they were well received. In March 1948, the Truman administration approved the concept of an independent Jewish state in Palestine.
OPEC and how it was used as Weaponry
The Arab states had formed the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1960 to gain control over oil prices. In the 1970s they used oil prices as a weapon to force Western governments to abandon their support of Israel. The price hikes led to an oil shortage and economic problems in the US and Europe and brought new riches to oil-exporting countries, such as Libya, now under Colonel Muammar Qadhafi.
Lebanon and the PLO
The conflict spread to Lebanon, where many Palestinians had found refuge. The PLO now set up its headquarters in Lebanon. Heated disputes between Christians and Muslims over control of the capital city, Beirut, added to the rising tension.
Israel and Palestinian Problems
U.S. sponsored peace talks opened between Israel and a number of its Arab neighbors. The first major breakthrough did not come until 1993. Israel and the PLO reached an agreement calling for Palestinian autonomy in certain areas of Israel. In return, the PLO recognized the Israeli state. Yasir Arafat became the head of the semi independent area known as the Palestinian Authority. Terrorist attacks by Palestinian militants who are opposed to the agreement have resulted in casualties and shaken the confidence of Jewish citizens. Jewish residents in the Left Bank have resisted the extension of Palestinian authority in the area.
WW2 Results in the middle east
WW2 led Syria and Lebanon to receive their independence. Jordan achieved complete self-rule soon after the war. Although Egypt had gained its independence in 1922, it still remained under British control. Sympathy for the idea of Arab unity led to the formation of an Arab League in 1945, but its members could not agree on much.
October War
When Israel refused, Sadat tried once to renew Arab unity through war with Israel. On October 6, 1973, Egyptian forces suddenly attacked Israeli positions in the Sinai Just east of the Suez Canal. At the same time the Syrian armies attacked Israeli positions in the Golan Heights. Early Arab successes in this October War left the Israelis reeling and a ceasefire was reached on October 24.
New State of Israel
When a United Nations resolution divided Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, the Jews in Palestine acted. On May 14, 1948, they proclaimed the state of Israel. Outraged at the lack of Western support for Muslim interests in the area, several Arab countries invaded the new Jewish state. The invasion failed, but Arab states refused to recognize Israel.
