Connections

This semester, my history classes have been taken place during the same time period. My American History class is Development of America II which discusses World War I and II through to perspective of the Americans of course. I am also taking Russian History to 1917 which follows World War I and plus this class follows both World Wars. With the multiple point of views of these wars, I feel like I get a broader perspective of the wars and get a better sense of their meaning and effects. America had entered the war due to Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor. Russia has entered the war because of alliances that were made. However, with the Middle East they were facing internal conflicts. During World War I, the Middle East had begun their biggest issue: the Arab Israeli Conflict. This was the battlw for Israel. Arabs had it under their control but the Jews felt they were entitled to it and deserved a homeland. Their lack of homeland, they believed, was the cause of their treatment from others and caused them to be targets during World War II. These connections from one class to another has helped me understand more of issues that I have generally learned in the past. It had broaden my education on these issues and has allowed me to question it more and understand every perspective instead of just one, like in the past.

Hunt for Middle East: Blood & Oil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbsMHq681Fk Hunt for Middle East: Blood & Oil (video 1/6)

The link above is a video 1 of 6 about the Middle East and the hunt for its oil from foreign powers, mostly the United States. I think it is interesting that still til this day there is a battle for oil from the Middle East. I could not help but link this video with an incident that had occured in the book All the Shah's Men. Iran allowed Britain to have complete access to their oil. But with the new Prime Minister of Iran, he completely cut this off causing Britain and their ally, the United States, to fight to get what is "theirs". I think it is insane that this battle is still going on until today and probably into the future. Oil is a huge part of society and its economic standards. However, due to the Middle East's issues within, these external issues have caused more issues that have set back the Middle East in creating a unified nation of Arab states.

Pan Arabism

Nasser's idea of Pan Arabism was the establishment of unifying all Arab nations. The would include all Arab nations that have a common historical background and identity with Arab heritage. Many nations were together in this attempt to strengthen Arab nations against the creation of Israel. However, this was difficult since every Arab nation had troubles which caused them to drift apart versus staying together.

Syria and Egypt were the first to join together and start a unified republic called The United Arab Republic in 1958. They joined military forces to defense themselves and other Arab nations from occupation by Israel. But in 1979, President Sadat decided to create peace with Israel which caused great issues with Nasser's idea of Pan Arabism. Since then, the Arab nations and their issues became to big to ignore which led them to divid among themselves and establishing a time of turbulance. It seems that the Middle East will never be destined to hold a unified connection with one another because the constant different views regarding relations with Israel and their own issues within their nation.

My Guantanamo Diary

This book written by Mahvish Khan describes the freedoms of America and its people versus the freedoms of the people of Afghanistan. Khan is from an immigrant family from Afghanistan but was born in America. She later learns about the prisoners that are held within Afghanistan and goes there to witness their struggles and to be their voice. She learns of her freedoms as an America but relates to those in Afghanistan because of her heritage.

This book has opened my eyes to understanding the privileges of living in America. Sometimes Americans complain about their country and government. We sometimes question our government and view some laws as unfair and favoring the rich and powerful. However true it may be, as citizens we have the power to give and take away power from their authorities. It made me grateful for being an American and having the comfort and privileges of America.

Post for Class of May 5

Today in class, we wrapped up a discussion on the 6 Days War of 1967. I think it is interesting that on the first day of class we watched a video about the Arab Israeli Conflict. It portrayed the Jews as the victims and made us sympathize with the Jews and their treatment by the Arabs. However, with the past few classes I catch myself sympathizing with the Arabs. After the Jews gained Israel as their homeland, they have been trying to push out the Palestinians from it and trying to keep them out.

The Arab armies lost the 6 Days War which gave more power to the Jews. Due to the outcome of the war the United Nations created a resolution that would secure the Arabs from Israeli forces. It prevented them from moving their citizens to the lands they occupied. This was so because it also states that the lands they occupied were not their property. However, they were forced to find settlements from refugees of the war. Great tension was caused due to the victory of the Jews. This shift in perspective has confused me. We started the semester sympathizing with the Jews and now I find myself sympathizing the Arabs and their suffering due to the creation of the Jews homeland.

Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

This book was written through the perspective of an Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe. He discusses the tension that was caused between the Arabs and Jews due to the movement of the Zionists. The Zionists held goals that would put the Palestinians in jeopardy and struggling to survive.

Ilan Pappe is an Israeli historian. It would be expected for him to create this book in the benefit for the Jews. However, he explains that the Zionists were a negative and dangerous component to the Middle East. For example, in Chapter 2 of the book Pappe explains that the main goal of the Zionists was to create an exclusive state for the Jews. This would include removing all Muslims from their towns, homes, businesses, and communities. After World War I, the Zionists movement increased. On October 31, 1917, the Balfour Declaration was established. This gave the Zionists permission to create a nation homeland for Jews within Palestine. This was the beginning of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Yosef Weitz started to create a census of the towns within Palestine which led many invasions, murders and other strategies to remove the Arabs from their designated homeland. David Ben-Gurion began a series of plans to remove the Arabs from their homes, which included acts of terrorism and murder to remove them. This chapter portrays the Jews as terrorists. They will do what they have to to ensure that they have a homeland whether it is already occupied or not.

All the Shah's Men

This book focused on the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953. Everything was sparked with the previous Shah of Iran's decision to shared freely with Britain their oil. This granted Britain grab oil whenever they pleased. But with the entering of Mossadegh, he destroyed this causing chaos between Britain, United States and Iran.

What I strongly began to understand was the power of trade within and among nations. Due to the cut off of Iranian oil, Britain who is closely linked with the United States disapproved and were annoyed with the new action of the Prime Minister. The United States along with Britain sent their secret agents to Iran to overthrow Mossadegh and regain their ability to obtain Iranian oil when they please. The need for trade prompts nations to fight for what they want and to establish a better economy for their people and better relations with other nations. Trade helps nations create allies for wars and support in incidents that require it.