Transcript The Region Today

The Region Today
• This area is considered one of the most
militarized regions in the world and the site
of great civil unrest
• Causes of
this unrest:
– 1. Unequal
distribution
of wealth
and
population
growth
threatens
stability
– 2. Food supply limitations and high costs are
a serious issue
– 3. lack of
experience with
representative
forms of
government can
lead to uncertainty
and sudden social
change
– 4. Weak or corrupt justice systems that mean lack
of freedom and rights
– 5. Ethnic, Tribal, and
religious differences
lead to clashes
• 6. Years of foreign
presence does not
help either
• The region is a tourist destination due to the
Holy Land and various sites of historical
interest:
• 1. The Western Wall (Jerusalem)
– Last remaining wall of a temple built by the
Jews and destroyed by the Romans
• 2. Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem)
– Islamic and Jewish site of importance due to
events in the Bible and Quran
• 3. Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Jerusalem)
– Christian Church covering the traditional sites of the
crucifixion, entombment, and resurrection of Jesus
• 4. Mount of Olives (Jerusalem)
– Contains Judaism’s most important graveyard
and the Christian sites of where Jesus was
arrested and ascended
• 5. The Tomb of the Patriarchs (Hebron)
– Believed to be the burial place of Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and their wives Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah
• 6. The Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem)
– Oldest surviving church in the Holy Land, believed to
mark the site of Jesus’ birth
• 7. Mount Sinai (Sinai Peninsula, Egypt)
– Believed to be the site where Moses received
the Ten Commandments from God
• 8. Hagia Sophia (Turkey)
– former Church & Mosque
• Isis is a current
threat in the
Middle East
– Radical Sunni
terrorist group
– Redefining Middle
East borders