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Middle East
History and Development
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Anti-Semitism | discrimination against Jews |
| Holocaust | the mass murder of millions of Jews and other people during WWII |
| Zionism | the belief that Jews should have a country in their ancient homeland (Israel) |
| Taliban | group of radical Muslims that controlled the government of Afghanistan |
| Saddam Hussein | the dictator of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom |
| What did the British promise the Arabs in exchange for revolting against the Ottoman Empire? | Arab independence, their own nation, gold |
| Which modern day country has the descendants of the Ottoman Empire? | Turkey |
| What happened to the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI? | The empire collapsed and the land was divided between the winning European countries, mainly France and Britain. |
| How have the borders drawn by European countries caused problems in the former Ottoman Empire? | The borders were drawn without considering ethnic groups, religious groups or historical borders. This has led to conflict. |
| Why did the British want land in SW Asia? | oil |
| Who created Israel in 1948? Why? | The United Nations created Israel as a result of Zionism and the Holocaust. |
| How did Palestinians react to the creation of Israel? Who are their allies? | The Palestinians were angry, and the other Arab countries in the Middle East allied with them. |
| What happened right after Israel was created? What was the result? | The Palestinians and other Arab countries attacked Israel. Israel won and gained more land. |
| What caused the Persian Gulf War? | Iraq invaded Kuwait in order to gain access to the Persian Gulf. |
| How was the US involved in the Persian Gulf War? | The United States sided with Kuwait and fought to remove the Iraqis from Kuwait. |
| Why were UN inspectors sent to Iraq? | To make sure Iraq had destroyed their weapons of mass destruction. |
| Why did the US begin Operation Iraqi Freedom? | The United States saw Iraq as a threat to the United States and its interests in the Middle East. |
| Why did the US invade Afghanistan? | The government of Afghanistan gave safe harbor to al Qaeda, which launched the September 11, 2001 attacks. |
| Who was the leader of al Qaeda when the September 11 attacks occurred? | Osama bin Laden |
| Put the 3 recent wars in SW Asia in order. | Persian Gulf War, War in Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom |
| Why do many Kurds want to be independent? | They don’t have their own country and are often discriminated against or even attacked in the counties they live in now. |
| What is the main source of conflict between Sunni and Shia in SW Asia today? | They are fighting for control of the countries that they live in. (land) |