Download The Fertile Crescent - Phoenix Union High School District

Middle East
Middle
East
The Middle East
 Birthplace of
Civilization (first cities5000 years ago)
 “Holy land” place
of 3 great
religions (Judaism,
Christianity, Islam)
 Oil
 War/Conflict/terrorism
Sadaam
Hussein
WMDs
Taliban
Al Qaeda
The Middle East today
MIDDLE EAST
Name_____________
Cities to know







Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Jerusalem, Israel
Baghdad, Iraq
Beirut, Lebanon
Damascus, Syria
Istanbul, Turkey
Amman, Jordan
 Dubai, United Arab
Emirates
 Tehran, Iran
 Kabul, Afghanistan
 Islamabad, Pakistan
Religion/
what you call their followers
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Jews
Christians
Muslims
JUDAISM
















Torah (Old Testament)
Adam and Eve
Noah’s Ark
Abraham
Promised Land
Moses
Red Sea
10 Commandments
David and Goliath
Synagogue
Sabbath
Rabbi
Torah
Kosher
Hanukah
Passover
Hebrews/Jews/Israelites
The 10 Commandments
Monotheism: belief in 1 God
 Jews, Christians
and Muslims all
believe in 1
invisible God that
you are not
suppose to make
graven images
(statues) of
Polytheism: belief in many
Gods
The most famous Jewish
woman in history
Christianity
 Based on the teaching of a
Jew named Jesus
 Claimed to be son of God
 Taught for 3 years until the
Jewish religious teachers gave
him over to the Romans to be
crucified for claiming to be the
son of God
 Christians believe that Jesus
came back to life and then was
taken up into heaven (Easter)
 Christmas (birth of Christ)
 Catholic/Protestant/Orthodox

Islam:
Muslims
Muhammad
Arabia
Medina
Mecca
Ka’aba
Mosque
Qur’an
Sunni/Shiite
The 5 Pillars
*Faith
*Prayer
*Alms (charity)
*Fasting (Ramadan)
*Hajj (pilgrimage)
Jihad “duty”
Syria
 King Assad
SAUDI ARABIA
Dubai, United Arab
Emirates (UAE)
Burg Khalifa -tallest Building
in the world
Israeli/Palestinian conflict
The basic story
Jews believe God promised the land to
Abraham the first “JEW”
Jews lived there for over 1,000 years (Bible times)
Romans beat the Jews up and most Jews left
Israel (The Diaspora)

While Jews were gone Islam became the
religion of Palestine. Muslims lived there for over
1700 years
around 1900 Jews started moving back to
Palestine (Zionism)
In 1947 a full-scale war broke out between the
Jews and Palestinians
The U.N. stepped in to mediate peace and cut
the land into into Jewish and Palestinian pieces
Arab nations hated that the UN gave Israel more
land so they attacked Israel. Amazingly Israel
won the war and took even more land
Palestinians say that the Jews “stole” their
country
Israel receives billions in military aid from the
U.S. and frequently “protects” itself by bombing
suspected terrorists in the Palestinian controlled
areas of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
Palestinians can’t afford tanks and airplanes so
they commit terrorist s acts – like suicide bombs
d
 Why do many Jews and Christians believe
that the land belongs to Israel?
 Why would many in the world say that it
belongs to the Palestinians?
 Why do you think Israel spends so much on
their military?
 Why do you think the US gives so much aid
to Israel?
 What solutions do you think smart people
have proposed?
 Why might they not work?
Suicide bombers
Al Qaeda: terrorist network that has people around the
world planning terrorist attacks. Osama Bin Laden
was the leader of this network
Afghanistan – Taliban
Camp X-Ray:
(Gitmo) Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
the place where the U.S. has jailed hundreds of
suspected terrorists and Al Qaeda members
IRAQ
Diaspora
Why is the U.S. at
War in Iraq?
 In 1991 Sadaam Hussein invaded Kuwait and a coalition of nations
defeated him and forced him to disarm (give up his weapons)
 Sadaam Hussein did not disarm
 He lsater used poison gas on his own people
 There were suspicions that he was trying to make WMDs (weapons of
mass destruction, ie. nukes, dirty bombs, poison gas, biological
weapons)
 After defeating the Taliban of Afghanistan as a response to the attacks
on September 11th Bush started saying that Saddam Hussein was
linked to Al Qaeda
 Most in the world did not believe they were linked
 Bush then began saying that Iraq had not disarmed and he was trying
to get a nuclear bomb
 Bush reasoned that he needed to strike 1st and get rid of the sadaam
Hussein threat (preemptive strike) before he developed WMDs
 The U.N. said don’t go to war – The U.S. and Britain and some other
smaller nations went ahead and invaded
 Baghdad was taken within a month
 Hussein was captured, put on trial and executed by the Iraqi people
 Because the U.S. got rid of the controlling dictator – Iraq is now in
chaos
IRAN (Persia)
Why is there so much anti-West
anti-Americanism around the
world?
Why is there so much anti-West
anti-Americanism around the
world?











Many believe that Europeans and Americans have been dominating the rest of the
world for centuries
Because George Bush went against the United nations and attacked Iraq
The way that American companies attempt to get American products into countries
and drive local companies out of business
Muslims say the west started this “holy war” when they first attacked the Muslims in
the 1100s
When oil was discovered in the Middle east in the late 1800s many said that western
governments have been using Middle eastern countries against each other to gain
access to oil
For the past 50 years the United States has been using its power and influence to
manipulate or buy off leaders around the world to aid American interests
The U.S. is the # 1 supporter of Israel (billions in aid and weapons) who many
Muslims believe stole Palestine from the Palestinians
Many people in the Middle East believe that the US did 9/11 to themselves as a
pretext to get at Iraqi oil and set up permanent US military bases in the Middle East
Many radical Muslims view the world as a continuing battle between Allah/Islam and
Satan/western religion-secular culture
Many believe that secular (non-religious) western culture and western material goods
are pulling the young away from Islam