The Middle East For Dummies

Craig S. Davis

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780764554834
• eBook ISBN: 9781118053935
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

Demystifies the area's culture, politics, and religions Explore Middle Eastern history from ancient to modern times Looking to better understand the Middle East? This plain-English guide explains the importance of the region, especially in light of recent events. You'll meet its people and their leaders, discover the differences and similarities between Arab and Western mindsets, and examine the wars and conflicts - including the Israeli-Palestinian turmoil - that led up to the current political situation. The Dummies Way
* Explanations in plain English
* "Get in, get out" information
* Icons and other navigational aids
* Tear-out cheat sheet
* Top ten lists
* A dash of humor and fun

Part I

Getting Acquainted with the Middle East

In this part . . .

Part I helps to make sense of it all by explaining why the Middle East should be relevant to you. This part further charts a map of the region, identifying the geography and climate. Finally, this part introduces you to the Middle East’s greatest asset: its people, along with their hospitality and cuisine.

Chapter 1

The Middle East’s Relevance in the 21st Century

In This Chapter

Grasping the Middle East’s relevant issues

Tracing contemporary violence in the Middle East to two major political events: World War II and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Destroying stereotypes and breaking monoliths

Understanding varying perspectives on terrorism (militancy)

Like it or not, you live in a global society where nearly everything you do affects others, and other people’s actions also affect you. Every time you purchase a product made abroad (which is more often than you may imagine), you’re contributing to a global network of mechanisms that influence the lives of millions of people you’ll never meet. Every time OPEC (Organi-zation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) raises the price of oil, higher prices make their way to the gas pump, impinging on your budget and reducing your ability to buy items for your family and yourself.

While you were going about your business on September 11, 2001, 19 Arabs hijacked four civilian airliners and flew three of them into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing more than 3,000 innocent people. This single event has likely changed your life, your worldview, and your opinions on the Middle East. First, you may have been among the throngs of people who began a concerted effort to educate themselves on the Middle East. Bookstores rushed to keep the shelves stocked with books on the Near East, Islam, and terrorism, while regional experts tirelessly attempted to keep up with requests to speak on TV and radio, give lectures, and participate in panel discussions on Middle Eastern issues. Religious studies and Near East studies departments struggled to answer phones and meet the growing demand of students who suddenly wanted crash courses in Islam and the Near East. Suddenly, the Middle East was relevant.

This chapter discusses the importance of the Middle East to our 21st-century world by highlighting issues relevant to you: oil, economy, terrorism, environment, art, literature, and human rights among them.

Making Sense of It All

With the recent turmoil in the Middle East, many people in the West have tried to find out more about the underlying issues, but this task can be a confusing one. The information they gleaned from the TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, and the Internet, at times seemed contradictory or filled with obscure terminology, complex concepts, and scores of foreign names of people and places.

Because I’ve lived, studied, and traveled in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, my friends, family, and colleagues often ask me questions about the Taliban, madrasas (theological schools), Pashtuns, Hamas, General Pervez Musharraf, martyrdom, sharia (Islamic law), and the Quran, along with a whole host of other topics. The Middle East For Dummies provides the essentials on religion, politics, society, and history of the Middle East so that you can process all the data that you’re downloading from the Internet, TV, newspapers, and other sources.

Following the headlines

The events taking place in the far-off Middle East have a lot to do with you. In fact, the Middle East is so relevant to Westerners that they can no longer afford to ignore it. You read about the region in the headlines everyday, and the most visible reason that the Middle East’s events, trends, and politics affect you is the impact that terrorism has had on the West. If you traveled abroad in the past, you probably think twice about flying overseas now, don’t you? In fact, you may think twice about flying at all. The tighter restrictions, longer lines, and baggage screening at airports are a direct result of September 11. After the July 2002 murder of three people standing at the El Al airline ticket counter at the Los Angeles International Airport, many people feel even less comfortable just waiting in lines.

Understanding global Islamic militancy

A wave of anti-Western feelings is currently washing over the Muslim World. All too often this anti-Western sentiment has taken the form of deadly violence against innocent civilians. Islamic militancy has struck in many parts of the world. Consider the following in the month of October 2002.

Bali: Militants bomb two Bali nightclubs, killing 183 people. Most of the victims are Australian, British, and Indonesian.

French Oil Tanker Limberg: Suicide bombers attack a French oil tanker, killing a Bulgarian crewmember in Yemen.

Moscow: Approximately 50 Chechen separatists storm the Moscow Palace of Cultural Theater, taking approximately 750 hostages, only three of whom are Americans. More than 100 die when Russian security forces pump an airborne chemical agent into the theater in order to disable the militants.

Unfortunately, Islamic militancy has impacted the West and has dominated the media, much in the same way that violence and conflict fills history books. Other issues, often filled with controversy, also fill the headlines.

Art, architecture, and history

Five millennia of art and architecture telling the region’s history saturate the Middle East. Egypt’s pyramids, royal tombs, and ancient relics, like mummies, sarcophagi, and statues, and the Holy Land’s countless sites held sacred by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, like the Wailing Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and Dome of the Rock are just glimpses into the Middle East’s treasure chest of art, architecture, and history (for more, see Chapter 23). You’re probably also aware the region’s art has suffered setbacks recently. In 2001, the Taliban destroyed the 50-meter tall Buddhist statues that had endured two millennia in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. During the wars in Iraq in 1991 and 2003, looters decimated holdings, most notably in Iraq’s National Museum of Antiquities.

Gender and human rights

Gender in the Middle East is a complex topic. Turkey, Israel, and Pakistan can boast having elected female prime ministers. The highly publicized activities of educated, visible Jordanian queens Nur and Rania represent the more progressive elements in Middle Eastern society. An increase in women-run businesses and improved education for girls in several countries signals a shift in traditional attitudes. Yet women continue to suffer in the region.

The Taliban became the most recent regime in the Middle East to emerge as poster boys for human rights abuses. The most commonly cited infraction was their treatment of women. In many parts of Afghanistan, women were forbidden to work in most jobs and travel outside the home alone or without a chador (type of veil). Furthermore, in many areas, girls and women were denied access to education. Women also weren’t allowed to drive cars. When found in violation of these Islamic regulations, a special religious police under the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue would beat or arrest the perpetrators.

Figure 1-1: One of several Buddhist statues destroyed by the Taliban in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.

© Paul Almasy/CORBIS.

The Taliban didn’t create all these practices; many they borrowed from Saudi Arabia. The issue of forbidding women to drive, for instance, came to a head in Saudi Arabia in November 1990 with the arrival of 500,000 Americans to the country for the Gulf War. Hoping to draw international sympathy for their cause (women’s rights), 45 Saudi women drove automobiles to downtown Riyadh defying the ban. The Saudi Commission for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue arrested the women. The most vociferous of the religious police labeled the women “communist whores.” Some of the women lost their jobs. More controversial yet was the incident in March 2002, when religious police blocked an exit of a burning school, preventing the girls from fleeing the fire because the girls weren’t wearing the appropriate Islamic attire presentable for the public. Even though 15 girls lie inside dying in the fire, outside the religious police dutifully busied themselves with beating young girls for not wearing the abaya (black robe and headdress).

Oil and economy

Because most of the world’s oil reserves lie in the Middle East, the global economy hinges on th...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Getting Acquainted with the Middle East
• Chapter 1: The Middle East’s Relevance in the 21st Century
• Chapter 2: Charting a Map
• Chapter 3: Middle Eastern Hospitality
• Part II : The History of the Middle East
• Chapter 4: The Ancient Middle East
• Chapter 5: The Medieval Middle East
• Chapter 6: The Modern Middle East
• Part III : Politics, Islam, and Oil: Three Reasons Not to Ignore the Middle East
• Chapter 7: Leadership: Kings, Presidents, and Dictators
• Chapter 8: Islamic Militancy in a Nutshell
• Chapter 9: Islam and the West
• Chapter 10: It’s All About the Oil: Economics in the Middle East
• Part IV : Regions in Turmoil
• Chapter 11: The Powder Keg: Israel and Palestine
• Chapter 12: Iraq
• Chapter 13: Afghanistan
• Chapter 14: Pakistan
• Part V : Regions in Repair
• Chapter 15: North Africa
• Chapter 16: Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
• Chapter 17: The Arabian Peninsula
• Chapter 18: Non-Arab Muslim States
• Part VI : Cultural Contributions of the Middle East
• Chapter 19: A Mosaic of Religions
• Chapter 20: Religions on the Edge
• Chapter 21: The Family: The Hub of Middle Eastern Life
• Chapter 22: Language and Literature
• Chapter 23: Arts and Sciences
• Part VII : The Part of Tens
• Chapter 24: Ten Key Ethnic Groups
• Chapter 25: Ten Key Militant Groups
• Chapter 26: Ten Key Challenges