Israel: first-born of the U.N.?

There are many reasons why one might discuss Israel as a child of the U.N., and all are because of attempts by the U.N. to intervene in the Palestinian conflicts.

Based on information from the book, the reality is that Zionism was the real cause of Jewish immigration to then Palestine. Many Jews wanted their own nation again, and began settlements in the Palestinian area over a century ago. The rise of Hitler and later the Holocaust pushed the immigration from small to massive. By this point, large Jewish populations were becoming a concern of the Arab neighbors, and Britain was not willing to do more than issue papers to stop disputes in lands that were their responsibility.

This is where the U.N. steps in. The United States pressured Britain to open the gates and let more Jews into Palestine, and they refused in lieu of a partition idea. The U.N. set up a partition plan that somewhat satisfied the Arabs, but not the Zionists. as more violence mounted, neighboring Arab states sent troops in, and the Jews pushed back, eventually leading to the creation of Israel. As more battles arose throughout more recent history, the U.N. would step-in in minor ways and then do little to stop Israel.

All-in-all, the U.N. is only a part of the birth of Israel, and the implications of the creation of Israel started as a point of conflict for the whole region but now mostly is a point of conflict for the Israel-Lebanon-Syria portion specifically.

What Were Those Women Doing?

The question posed is, in essence, what is going on here, and what are those women up to? It's a bit longer than that, but this is the gist.

Given the context of this week's analysis and the readings, this image is probably from the 1919 Egyptian Revolution. The women in the picture are in the middle of some sort of gathering, and it appears that one is either preaching or reciting or participating in some way. This is how some may use the picture to say that women participated in the revolution. The leaders of this revolution, called Wafd, were a good bit more liberal than their contemporaries; these leaders were well-educated and open to a tolerant, harmonious way of governing.

The women may have been part of the spread of a petition concerning a consensus that the Wafd was recognized widely in Egypt as representatives. These representatives were meant to petition Woodrow Wilson for recognition of Egypt as independent.

18th and 19th Century Wars on the Middle East

The many wars on the the Middle East caused reforms, losses, independence, and nationalism. The reforms were often towards European ways of running a nation. In Egypt, Mahmet Ali learned ways from the French to build war factories and sent men to learn technical and military information. Ali also used the farmlands for cash crops as opposed to just subsistence. The Ottomans also saw reforms in their military, ruling powers, and government operations. Schools were created to teach medicine, and power was taken from the upper class and given back to the Sultan.

The reforms often came after losses, or sometimes caused the losses. The Ottoman reforms initially got the Sultan's family almost wiped out. The diplomatic connections that Ali had likely led to his withdrawal from Ottoman lands, losing him many lands and causing him to lose interest in reforms. In Persia, the reforms of monopolizing industries led to sell-outs to European investors.

Independence came in a handful of ways. After the French left Egypt, Ali removed the Ottoman governor and massacred the Mamluks. By the time of Ali's death, Egypt was its own nation. The wars also allowed Europe to pry Greece from the Ottoman Empire's hands. Christian rebellions tried to give them some sort of independence, but Russia moved in and put them back down.

Nationalism was an end result of the aforementioned events. Pan-Islam gained strength, although many other internal powers wanted more local power. Islam, therefore, had its own form of nationalism, but regional nationalism led to splits between Turks, Persians, and Arabs.

Europe and a Weakening Ottoman Empire

The decline of the Ottoman Empire is a matter of two causes, one of which eventually helped keep it protected. The first cause was the madness and poor judgment of some of the later Sultans. One Sultan drowned his 280 concubines, another insisted on leading his troops into battle against the Prince of Savoy which took from the Ottoman military prestige, and others were given to addiction to carnal desires and alcohol. The upside is that other Sultans came in and made reforms, as did Viziers, but the aforementioned issues did still aid in their decline.

The second cause, and also a solution to the Ottoman decline, were the powers in Europe. Austria was the constant nemesis to the Ottomans and wore them down frequently in battles over neighboring territories. Many nations like Spain and Britain found sailing routes around Africa, so they no longer needed to move through the Ottoman Empire, which also took from their economic resiliency. Russia was also pounding at their door with talk of pan-Slavic unity; Russia is why Europe decided to help the Ottomans.

Russia wanted Istanbul in a bad way, and their control would give their warships access to the Mediterranean, which would spell trouble for the rest of Europe. While Austria maintained their thorn-in-side status, Britain decided to work with the Ottomans to use steamships in the Fertile Crescent to make travels to India faster; this meant they needed the protection the Ottomans could provide. The French took it upon themselves to become protectors of the Middle East as they had the common rivalry against the Austrians; they were also almost as big on doing business with the Ottoman Empire as the British were.