1. Southwest Asia 1 aka The Middle East Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Cyprus

2. US Foreign Aid & Defense Spending in SW Asia, 2007

5. Six Day War

9. Dead Sea, 1,300 feet below sea level

10. Israel’s West Bank & Jerusalem

17. Wall, Bethlehem, West Bank

18. Searchable Link to West Bank Walls

19. Detailed Map

22. Jericho, West Bank of Israel

23. Israeli Kibbutz

24. INTIFADA: Arabic for uprising First Intifada 1987, peaked in 1991, ended in 1993 with Oslo Accords. Palestinian National Authority created the Second Intifada, aka al-Aqsa Intifada, which began in 2000 with Sharon’s stroll across the Temple Mount

27. Israeli Leader, Netanyahu

28. Fatah Leader, Abbas

29. Khalid Meshal, Hamas, King Abdullah, Jordan 1/12

34. Lebanon’s political system has its origin in the National Pact of 1943. Under this unwritten Pact, the President of the Republic must be a Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the President (Speaker) of the Parliament a Shiite Muslim. What is more, 50% of the 128 seats in the Parliament are allocated to Christians, and 50% to Muslims, and these allocations are further sub-divided for Christian and Muslim sects. In total, seats are allocated to each of 18 sects. Nationally, the 64 Christian seats are allocated as follows: Maronite 34, Greek Orthodox 14, Greek Catholic 8, Armenian Orthodox 5, Armenian Catholic 1, Protestant 1 and Others 1; and the 64 Muslim seats are allocated as follows: Sunni 27, Shiite 27, Druze 8 and Alawite 2. So, in total Christians have 50% of the seats, and the Sunni and Shiite communities just over 20% each. There was no provision in the National Pact for altering these allocations to reflect demographic changes. And there is still none today. These allocations may have corresponded to the proportion of each sect in the electorate at one time, but they certainly don’t today. But it’s impossible to say with any precision what they should be, since there hasn’t been a national census since 1932. This is a very sensitive issue within Lebanon, an issue that has the potential to trigger civil conflict.

35. Bombed out Beirut, Lebanon

40. Hezbollah, Lebanon Terrorist Groups detailed: http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/tgp ndx.htm Terrorist Groups detailed: http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/tgp ndx.htm

41. Hezbollah on YouTube

43. Petra, Jordan

46. Total population: 612,847 estimated [1] (Jan 2013) 508,454 registered by UNHCR [1] (Jan 2013) [1]UNHCR [1] Regions with significant populations (Numbers don't include foreign citizens, who fled Syria) Jordan 176,569 estimated [1] (Jan 2013) 128,628 registered [1] (Jan 2013) [1] Lebanon 192,045 estimated [1] (Jan 2013) 137,065 registered [1] (Jan 2013) [1] Turkey150,906 registered [1] (Jan 2013) [1] Egypt 150,000 estimated [2] (Oct 2012) 13,292 registered [1] (Jan 2013) [2] [1] Iraqi Kurdistan 70,000 estimated [3] (Jan 2013) 54,550 registered [4] (Dec 2012) [3] [4] Algeria25,000 estimated (Aug 2012) Iraq8,852 registered [4] (Dec 2012) [4] Armenia3,248 applied for visas (July 2012) Language:ArabicArabic, Kurdish, Turkish, Syriac, ArmenianKurdishTurkishSyriacArmenian Religion:Sunni IslamSunni Islam, ChristianityChristianity Refugees of the Syrian Civil War Jan 2013

47. Ebla, Syria

48. Ancient Fort at Hamah, Syria

50. Eastern Roman Empire map on Syrian Christian Church floor, Bosra

52. Crusader Castle, Syria

56. Aljazeera on rebel capture of Euphrates Tabqa Dam

59. Assad Dam and Lake on Euphrates

60. Assad Castle in Damascus

61. Bashar al-Assad, Syrian Head of State, heir to the Alawite dynasty.

62. Bedouin men, Damascus Syria

63. Damascus, Syria

64. Syrian deforestation for olives

67. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, First President of Turkey after the defeat of the Ottomans in 1918

68. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey, former Mayor of Istanbul

71. Turkey, plate collision

72. Pergamon, Turkey

73. Mother Goddess, Ephesus Turkey

74. Beehive houses, Harran, eastern Turkey

75. Turhal from Kale

76. Zile Turkey from Kale

77. Ihlara, Turkey

79. Turhal, Turkey

81. Bodrum Turkey, Ottoman castle

82. Ayasofya, Istanbul

83. Blue Mosque

84. Turkish Tobacco

85. Bosporus, Istanbul

86. Bosporus, Turkey

89. Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, with the UK, Greece, and Turkey retaining limited rights to intervene in internal affairs. Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided, de facto, into the Greek-Cypriot controlled southern two-thirds of the island and the Turkish-Cypriot northern one-third. The Republic of Cyprus is the internationally recognized government of Cyprus, which controls the southern two-thirds of the island. Turkey aside, all foreign governments and the United Nations recognize the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot administration of the northern part of the island, together with Turkey, does not accept the Republic's rule over the whole island and refers to it as the "Greek Authority of Southern Cyprus". They occupy the northern third of the island, following the military invasion by Turkey. The area occupied by Turkey proclaimed its independence in 1975, and the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established in 1983. This state was recognized only by Turkey. The Organization of the Islamic Conference granted it observer member status under the name of "Turkish Cypriot State." The other power with territory on Cyprus is the United Kingdom. Under the independence agreement, the UK retained title to two areas on the southern coast of the island, around Akrotiri and Dhekelia, known collectively as the UK sovereign base areas. They are used as military bases. Cyprus: Political Divisions and Districts

91. Green Line, Nicosia, Cyprus

92. Dr. Gene Sharp The Albert Einstein Institution The Albert Einstein Institution From Dictatorship to Democracy From Dictatorship to Democracy Documentary:. Documentary: How to Start a Revolution.