2. Middle East Vocabulary Words
IMPERIALISM
NATIONALISM
SELF-DETERMINATION
ARAB
MANDATES
ZIONISM
PARTITION
Christianity
Judaism
MUSLIM
SHIA MUSLIM
SUNNI MUSLIM
TERRORISM
FUNDAMENTALISM
ISLAM
THEOCRACY
OPEC

3. Middle east of what??? Western World vs. Eastern World
East of Britain (colonial times)
China and Japan were the far east
Egypt and the Ottoman Empire=Middle East

4. Religions of the middle east
Birthplace of 3 religions:
1. Christianity- The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. They believe that by Jesus was sent by God and his dying and rising allowed all who believe in him to enter into Heaven.
2. Judaism- The monotheistic religion of the Jews based on the teachings of the Torah. The belief in one God, whose chosen people are the Jews.
Zionism: National movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland.
3. Islam- The religion of Muslims, a monotheistic faith revelaed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah.
A Muslim is a person who practices Islam. (Muslim means “anyone or anything who submits itself to the will of Allah.)

5. Arabs Share a culture not a religion
The defining aspect of an Arab is the language (Arabic) and common traditions.
**Iran is not an Arab nation! They have a predominately Persian culture and most people speak Farsi.
**Afghanistan is also not an Arab Nation!!

6. An arab is not always Islamic and a muslim is not always arab
Some Arabs are Jewish and Many are Christian.
The predominate faith of the approximately six million Arab-Americans is Christianity.
Arabs only make up 20% of the Islamic Following.
Most Islamic Followers can be found in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

7. So what do the Islamic People believe?
Allah is the one God, the same God of Abraham and Christ.
Muhammad was born as the “last prophet of God”
The Qu’ran (Koran) is the main Islamic text and outlines major tenets of faith.
There are 5 pillars of practice in Islam.
There are 6 articles of faith in Islam.
2 types of Muslims:
Sunni: Regard themselves as the orthodox branch of Islam. “people of tradition”
Shite: Members of the branch of Islam that regard Ali as the legitimate successor to Mohammed and reject the first three Caliphs.

8. Fundamentalism Vs. Terrorism
An Islamic Fundamentalist is a person who closely adheres to the Islamic Faith as proscribed in the Koran. This includes leading a peaceful life.
Although many times it is Islamic Fundamentalists who are terrorist they are not all terrorists. In many Theocracies were you find Islamic Fundamentalists they use violence with the power of religion to meet political ends. (Islamic Extremists are those like ISIS)
Theocracy: Government where everything is based on Religion. Politics and Religion go hand in hand in Theocracies.
Terrorism: The use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political Aims.

9. Vocabulary
Imperialism: Policy of extending the rule of authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries.
Nationalism: The strong belief and devotion in ones country, that is sometimes marked by the feeling of superiority over other countries.
Self-Determination: The process by which a country determines it’s own statehood and forms its own allegiances and government.
Mandate: An official order to commission or do something
Partition: The action or state of dividing or being divided into parts

10. Sources of Conflict in the middle east
Land
Oil
Water
Religion

11. Two main Rivers in the Middle east
Tigris
Eurprates
There have been many conflicts over who controls the water.
Syria and Iraq want to divide the water 3 ways between the two of them and Turkey.
Turkey does not want to give up the control of water downstream

12. Oil in the middle east OPEC
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Created to help determine the worlds oil prices and production.
13 Oil producing countries are members of OPEC.