Cover of an al Qaeda document

 

 

Focus Questions:

 

How did Islamic fundamentalism rise in the last half of the 20th century?

 

What were the major events in the Middle East over the last several decades?

 

 

Topics on the Page

 

What is it?

 

Women and Islamic Fundamentalism

 

Weakness and fragility of the oil-rich Persian Gulf states; Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and others 

 

Defeat of the Soviet Union by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan

 

Origins of the Persian Gulf War and the post-war actions of Saddam Hussein

 

Financial support of radical and terrorist organizations by the Saudis

 

Increase in terrorist attacks against Israel and the United States

 

Hamas and Palestine Conflict

 

Cross-Links

 

For 21st century events, The Arab Spring Uprisings

 

Link to The September 11 Terrorist Attacks

 

Cross-Link: The Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979

• Iranian Hostage Crisis

 

What is Islamic Fundamentalism?:

• A political ideology 
• Belief that Muslims should follow the Qur'an and other scriptures literally and strictly
• Oppose the infiltration of secular and Westernizing influences, believing they are the cause for their misfortune 
• Against: Arab nationalism, Western culture, democracy, and modernization 
• Hope to see existing regimes replaced by Islamic republics based upon Islamic law and free of all foreign influences
• Using Islamic religion to push political agendas 

 

 

Woman and Islamic Fundamentalism

• Importance of veiling and being modest
• Women should obey husband and should focus on being a wife and mother
• Men should be providers and always in control
• In many states women have to be chaperoned by a man 
• Some women are ditching these traditional views
• check out this vanity fair article to understand why many modern women are leaving this strict lifestyle 
• goes into detail about honor killing women for adultery, female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and more 
• Interview with 2 former members of Islamic State's elite women's police unit 
• They show what it's like to be a woman in a Islamic fundamentalist society 

 

Benazir Bhutto

 

Benazir Bhutto, 1989

 

Benazir Bhutto is the first woman to be the head of state of a Muslim nation; served two terms as Pakistan's Prime Minister (1988-1990 & 1993-1996).

 

• She was assassinated in 2007 after years in exile.

 

• Many did not approve of a woman having such a prominent role in society and poltics 

 

 

• Click here to read about Bhutto's legacy from the New York Times.

 

 

 

The weakness and fragility of the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and others

 

1. Saudi Arabia: oil makes up more than 90% of its exports, making it the world’s leading petroleum producer and exporter. It is about 75% of the government’s revenue.
2. Kuwait: holds about 96 billion barrels of crude oil, but still only makes up about 10% of the world’s oil reserves. The Iraqi invasion during the First Gulf War aimed to set the hundreds of oil barrels on fire to damage Kuwait’s economy.
3. Iraq: part of the oil sector which provides 95% of the oil exchange. The eight-year war with Iran damaged the oil export facilities. The construction of pipelines to fix the damage helped bring oil exports back up. The constant borrowing of money (especially from the U.S., whose tolls reach 100 billion) to repair all the damage led to a high debt. This was the main reason for invading Kuwait.

There is a lot of competition between the Persian Gulf States. One year Kuwait produced 90 billion barrels, and Iran responded to the challenge with even more, but Saddam Hussein produced the most with 100 billion barrels. The competition can cause inflation in lower producing oil states.

Click here to see a chart show top proven world oil reserves, 2013

 

 

Defeat of the Soviet Union by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan

Definition:
"A mujahid is one who strives or struggles on behalf of Islam; mujahideen is the plural of the same word. The word mujahid is an Arabic participle drawn from the same root as the Arabic word jihad, to strive or struggle."

Click here to know more about the role of Mujahideen in Soviet- Afghanistan War and what Mujahideen look like.

 

1. Mujahideen insurgents were fighting to overthrow Communist rule of the Soviet Union. It became a 9 year conflict.
2. The Mujahideen were entirely independent of the government and fought under the lead of Tribal Leaders.
3. Supported by the US Government because they were the enemy of our enemy "The Soviet Union"
4. During the war were almost 90,000 strong and after the war went back to their own regions and fought each other until the Taliban took control of country.
5. Occurred at the same time as the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War.
6. Soviet troops in Afghanistan began December 25, 1979, and ended February 15, 1989.
7. Has been compared to the American War in Vietnam.
8. This war influenced the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 because of its high costs and military failures.

For a book on the Soviet-Afghan conflict, see this page on The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost, edited by Lester W. Grau. 

The origins of the Persian Gulf War and the post-war actions of Saddam Hussein

1990-1991 Gulf War was directed by the United Nations and by the United States to liberate Kuwait. It was a conflict between Iraq and 30 other nations.

Click here to watch a video about the Persian Gulf War.

Click here for newly declassified documents about Saddam Hussein and his relationship with the United States and other western nations.

Post-war actions of Saddam Hussein : stayed in control of Iraq, and used his survival as evidence that Iraq had won the war against America. This propaganda gave Saddam a good deal of popularity.

• Portrayed himself as a devout Muslim
• The ritual phrase “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) was added to the nations flag in Saddam’s writing
• Relations between the U.S. and Iraq worsened

Click here for a timeline of the Persian Gulf War, and how it is connected to modern U.S. conflicts in the Middle East.

The financial support of radical and terrorist organizations by the Saudis

 

Osama Bin Laden’s family places #7 among the fifty wealthiest businessmen and families of the Arab world for 2012 according to Arabian Business.

 

1. Click here to know the story of Bin Laden's and also how wealthy was he.
2. Osama bin Laden was able to lead terrorist attacks by the continuous funding of millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia through charities, banks, businesses, and nongovernmental organizations.
3. Steve Coll, journalist and bin Laden family biographer, discusses So Where is bin Laden, Anyways (2008).
4. Saudis have a religious tax, where Muslims have to give 2.5% of their income. The money goes to charity, some of which are true to their cause while others help support terrorist groups.
5. The transaction of money is verbal, leaving no paper trail, called Hawala transactions.

 

The increase in terrorist attacks against Israel and the United States.

 

1. Al-Qaeda : militant guerrilla organizations. This organization was created by Osama bin Laden in 1989. The goals for this group are to eradicate those called “infidels,” elimination of Israel, and the establishment of a new Islamic caliphate.
2. Al Qaeda terror campaign started with the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996.

 

Operation Bojinka: three-pronged attack: Assassinate Pope John Paul II on January 12th, 1995 during his visit to the Philippines. Then bomb 11 airliners from January 21-22. Finally, a Cessna filled with explosives was to be flown into the CIA headquarters. An apartment fire on January 6 led the police to discover this plan, and so it was never completed.

 

• Saudi-Arabia 1995-1996

 

• 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings

 

• 1999-2000 attacks

 

• September 11, 2001

 

• Madrid attacks

 

• London bombings: July 7, 2005. Bombs go off in three subway stations and one bus in London. 52 died, 700 injured. A week after this there was another attempted bombing in three more subway stations and one bus.

 

• 2005 Egypt attacks

 

• Jordan attack

 

• 2007 Algiers bombings

Please click here to know about Al-Qaeda timeline attacks from the beginning till 2005.

Hamas and Palestine Conflict

 

Hamas:

• Islamic Resistance Movement 
• created in December 1987
• Sunni extremist movement intending on getting rid of the Jewish state of Israel  
• Wants to create a full Islamic state in its place
• Hamas takes over Gaza in 2006 through election 

 

Palestine Conflict:

• Issues between Muslims and Jews in Palestine have been consistent since the 1930s
• This conflict has became more extreme in October 2023 
• This conflict is a hot topic due to the U.S's support of Israel, the Hamas killings of jews, and the murder of many Muslim civilians by the Israel government
• Click here for a time line of the Israel and Hamas conflict 

 

 

 

  Interactive Games and Simulations

 

• Syrian Journey:  Choose Your Own Escape Route

 

• Welcome to Aleppo: Enter a War Zone for the First Time Ever with Virtual Reality

 

The Path to Protest provides an interactive timeline for the Arab Spring protests of 2011.

Al Qaeda' Hot Spots shows countries in the Middle East and North Africa where Al Qaeda or related militant groups have been active (The New York Times, January 26, 2014).

 
Interactive Map showing movement of al Qaeda fighters in and out of Afghanistan in 2001 from Frontline, PBS.

 

• Animated Map showing Iraq in a "pressure vault" summarizes the pressure Iraq's political structure suffers through non-support and pressure from neighboring countries.

 

Countries with more than 5% Muslim population

World's Largest Muslim Populations (2009 estimates from National Geographic Magazine, October 2009, p. 87)

• Indonesia (207 million)
• Pakistan (171 million)
• India (145 million)
• Bangladesh (138 million)
• Turkey (76 million)
• Egypt (75 million)
• Nigeria (75 million)
• Iran (65 million)

Map of Modern Distribution of World Religions from Cengage Learning.

• Map of Islam, 2000

Religious Affiliation (by percentage of population, 2005) from National Geographic, December 2007.

• Christians 33%
• Muslims 21%
• Nonbelievers 14%
• Hindus 13%
• Other 12%
• Buddhists 6%

Works Cited:
[1] (2007). Persian Gulf. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf.
[2] (2007). Persian Gulf States. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf_States.
[3] (2007). Saudi Arabia. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia.
[4] (2007). Kuwait. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from hhttp:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait.
[5] (2007). Iranian Revolution. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_revolution.
[6] (2007). Soviet War In Afghanistan. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Afghanistan.
[7] (2007). Gulf War. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Gulf_War.
[8] (2007). Al-Qaeda. In Wikipedia// [Web]. Retrieved May 14, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-qaeda. [9] IAGS (2003). Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. Retrieved May 17, 2007, from Fueling Terror Web site: http://www.iags.org/fuelingterror.html
[9] Picture:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=the+iranian+revolution&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&tbnid=RuDgUiw03sFVRM:&imgrefurl=http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%25D9%25BE%25D8%25B1%25D9%2588%25D9%2586%25D8%25AF%25D9%2587:Ahmad_Moftizadeh(_the_Iranian_Revolution).jpg&docid=XOQWlX3ge-9NfM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Ahmad_Moftizadeh(_the_Iranian_Revolution).jpg&w=1394&h=1097&ei=73GNT7qeEuXo0QGh05DHDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=314&vpy=340&dur=777&hovh=199&hovw=253&tx=112&ty=94&sig=111297092610368439370&page=1&tbnh=166&tbnw=218&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:82
[10] Mujahideen:
http://terrorism.about.com/od/m/g/Mujahideen.htm