Transcript PowerPoint Presentation - Northside Middle School

Middle East
Why is it ALWAYS in the news?!
Middle East
• End of WWI—Ottoman
lands were controlled by
the League of Nations
– France controlled Syria
and Lebanon
– Britain controlled
Palestine, Jordan, and
Iraq
– Iran was carved up into
spheres of influence
between Britain and
Russia
– Turkey and Saudi
Kingdom created
– After WWII???
Modernization experiments
• Scientific outlook, tech achievements, focus
on matrl values = uneasy w/old traditions
• How will Islam relate to modernity?
Modern Turkey
• General Ataturk fought Br, Fr, It, Gk efforts to
dismember what was left of Ottoman empire
• Compared to Peter the Great
• Sought to transform into modern, secular, natl
state by embracing European civz completely
• First remove Islam from public life = elevates
rel when can’t be used as polt tool
Ataturk sweeping reforms
• Broaden access = translate Quran into Turkish;
call to prayer = Turkic instead of Arabic
• Desposed old sultan/ruler + abolished caliphate
• Sufi rel schools closed; rel titles abolished;
• Dissolved Islamic courts; sharia law replaced
with secular law codes
• Even Arabic script replaced w/western alphabet
Social life in Turkey
• Men ordered to abandon the fez
• Elite women abandon veil as well
• Polygamy abolished; women granted equal rts
in divorce, rt to vote, beaches open to women
• Cult Rev unique in Islamic world!
• After Ataturk’s death, some practices returned
= call to prayer in Arabic; but mostly still secular
Iran totally different story!
• Islamic revolution: Govt of Shah Pahlavi tried a bit of secular
modernization
• Due to wealth in oil, powerful milt, educ elite = alliance w/US
• “White Revolution” leads to redist land to peasantry
• Women get right to vote
• President Carter comes to Iran = congratulate on
modernization and westernization = enough is enough!!
Reaction to White Revolution
• Small scale merchants feel threatened by
increased imports from West
• Rel ldrs offended by educ that bypasses
Islamic schools
• Rural migrants to growing cities (Tehran) see
high costs and insecure/random employment
Iran
• Iran Islamic revolution
frustrating to US
• CIA helps shah to retain
throne equipping Iranian army
w/American weapons
• Shah’s dependence on US
furthers the issue
• Mass opposition to corruption
led by Ayatollah Khomeini
forces shah to flee Iran
• Religious control of legislation
and public behavior enforced
Opposition concentrates
• Little outlet for grievances
• Shi’ite rel ldrs mobilize opposition
• Shia cleric Ayatollah Khomeini returns from
exile in Paris and leads mvmt in 1979
• Massive urban demonstrations, strikes, erodes
shah’s support base = has to abdicate power
Culture Revolution countered!
• Toward MORE Islamization of public life
• An Islamic Republic is declared
• Legal scholars empowered to
interpret/supervise elections + review legis
• Opposition harshly crushed = 1800 executions
in 1981 of those “waging war against Allah”
Govt and Educ in Iran
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Khomeini applied law of Allah from Sharia
All judges had to be competent in Islamic law
Discarded secular law codes completely
Closed colleges for 2 yrs to purify un-Islamic
infl from textbooks! 40k teachers fired
• Priority is rel instruction
Women
• Required to wear modest head-to-toe
covering of hijab; those who don’t public
harassment, lashings, imprisonment
• Sexual segregation imposed
• Legal age of marriage lowered to 9 yrs old
• Married women can’t file for divorce
Ayatollah vs. US
• Ayatollah sees US as “Great Satan”
• Iranian embassy in Tehran seized and 52
diplomats held captive for 444 days; US
helpless to do anything
Khomeini the activist
• Appealed to Shi’ite minorities in Lebanon,
Syria, Bahrain, ,Saudi Arabia, Iraq
• 8 year war w/secular Iraq under Saddam
Hussein (US supports Hussein!) high loss of life
• Clear diff between Arabs/Persians, Shia/Sunni
Iran today…
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Khomeini dies 1989 – more moderates replace
2005 short lived return to conservativism
By 2009 lg protests to rigid Islamic regime
Most hopeful ally to West in fighting ISIS
threats of 2015 = sanctions of UN over active
pursuit of nuclear power weaken in face of ISIS
• Oil reserves still fuel dev
Internet sites
in Iran 2015