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.

Forgotten Fire

The novel discusses the Armenian genocide of 1915. It follows the life of a young boy who comes from a wealthy family, Vahan Kenderian. He describes how his life has changed from a life of servants and comfort to a life of begging for food and struggling to survive to the next day.

This topic affected me more than I expected. My stepmother's sister who I am close with is half Armenian. After I read this book, I went to her house and talked to her about it. She told me that she had family who were around during the genocide and had a few members killed because of it. It was an incredibly sad story but made this incident more real. Her account on in incident is what makes history more real and secure. History is all about word of the mouth and through time the story changes depending on the person telling it. With live accounts, it makes history more believeable and gives justice to what really happened and credit to those who survived it.

Janissary Tree

Prior to break, we read a book called the Janissary Tree. It told the story of a stream of murders through the Ottoman Empire. Investigator Yashim was set to figure out these murders. It is discovered that they were done by the Janissaries during the Janissaries' revolt against the Ottoman Empire.

The Auspicious Incident is what the novel was based on when Sultan Mahmud II was in power and made changes throughout the empire. His major change was to destry the janissaries for they were no longer protecting the people of the Ottoman Empire but causing chaos. Mamud II created a new army that was fashioned after the Europeans and ambushed the Janissaries which led to their downfall. After this time, some of the Janissaries that survived went into hiding and were forced to live te life of the rest of the people in order to simply survive.

This novel was written through the eyes of a historian who traveled the lands of the Middle East. He knew what the lands were and te customs of the people. His experiences made is novel more realistic feeling with accuret descriptions of how the people of the Ottoman Empire lived and the positions of the Janissaries and eunuchs which was what Investigator Yashim was.

Red Apple

A few week ago, we read a book titled The Red Apple. It showed the transition of a Janissary from the moment children are taken from their families, through their journey as a soldier for the Sultan and to the end when Janissaries began their revolt. It follows one child, Miguel, as he realizes that the Janissary life is not a life meant for him.

To become a Janissary, one must be between the age of 7-about 14 and of Christian decent. Muslims were not taken because the teachings of the Janissaries wanted all their soldiers to be under the same path of the faith of Islam. Taking other Muslims would cause major conflict within the army because many would have different beliefs they follow and they would not be unified.

The book was quite interesting and it was written if a fashion that was easy to read. It was written by a historian so the book held a lot of historical content that was quite accuret. I really enjoyed it.

Suleyman the Magnificent & his "Golden Age"

I went to the Metroplotian Museum of Art this past week and noticed some artwork that greatly related to our class discussion of Suleyman the Magnificent.

At the museum, I was walking through the exhibits and saw some amazing work. One piece that really interested me was the image I attached to this post. From the card I read at the site, it is a war helmet made for the sultan. That sultan was Suleyman. It is beautiful and well crafted for a time that is not as advanced as today with limited resources and tools. However, what I learned at the museum that Suleyman's reign was often called a "Golden Age". While walking through the rest of the room that held art from his reign, it is clear that his reign was a Golden Age. Another piece that was beautiful it the plate I also attached to this post. This piece not only shows the Ottoman Empire's increasing wealth and status but how they achieved that status. The plate looks very similar to the plates from China. The oriental style of the Ottomans suggest that a lot of their influences were caused by cultural diffusion and military campaigns through neighboring countries and empires. This makes clear that in order to have a successful empire, it is important to create forgein relations with neighboring empires which is exactly what Suleyman did, making him "magnificent" and creating a Golden Age for the Ottoman Empire during his rule.

Post for February 4th

A little late on last week's post but I've had a tough few days.

In class the week of the 1st, we mostly focused on the religion of Islam. Islam is the dominate religion of the Middle East and has spread rapidly throughout the world. It is easy to learn and follow and focuses on one's personally growth with God with direct connection to Him.

I think it is important to understand Islam, whether you are a part of the faith or not. I am a part of the Roman Catholic Church and understanding Islam for me helps me better understand Christianity. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are branches from one another. They share the same God and same important religious figures. The father of Islam was Ishmael who was a son of Abraham. While understanding Islam, it really broaden my view of the culture of those in the Middle East. Their religion is a great part of lives and plays a huge part in the way they live. It not only controls how they live their lives, but also controls how their government works. Without religion, the culture of the Middle East would not be as unique as it is from the rest of the world.

Peace, Propaganda and the Promise Land

On Janurary 25, I saw a film in class titled "Peace, Propaganda and the Promise Land". It was by far very difficult to watch. It depicted the hardships of those involved in the Arab-Isreali Conflict and showed how the media can target one group while creating sympathy for another. In such situations, it makes the public that more confused about this issue and may create a false sense of understanding about the issue. This can ultimately make the situation worse. Those who feel targeted will lash out to the media and the other party to show that they are the victims, where the "victims" feel as if they are justified in their actions and continue to do them and even do worse.

That film changed my view on the media greatly. I was never a fan of media news because I always felt it was one sided and only portrayed the views of the media versus the truth. But this film has engraved in my mind that that is EXACTLY what they are doing; it truly makes me sick. I like to learn and understand what is going on around me but I am so turned off to find out because no matter where you turn, there is someone who will throw their beliefs in my face and "force" me to see that their ideas are the truth and the best. Nowadays it is hard to find the truth. I believe because of media, our youth are less informed about the important causes of our world and only get the lies or bias opinions of their sources.

I think it is about time something is done about the news that the media is feeding to the public. It is difficult to do something about a situation if you are not getting the whole UNBIAS truth. With a situation like the Arab-Isreali Conflict that has be occurring for years, it is important that the proper information is given so something can be done to help them see that peace is the best solution.