The 7 UU Principles and the Middle East. Spring 2016 Northwoods UU Church Dana Fisher Ashrawi

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1 The 7 UU Principles and the Middle East Spring 2016 Northwoods UU Church Dana Fisher Ashrawi

Founded in 1971, UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) is UUA Related Social Justice Organization of concerned UUs working to educate ourselves and others about the

2 Founded in 1971, UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) is UUA Related Social Justice Organization of concerned UUs working to educate ourselves and others about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supporting a future that affirms the equality, dignity, freedom, and security of all peoples involved. See for more information.

Resources Study Guide by UUJME Vox website: http://www.

3 Resources Study Guide by UUJME Vox website: United Nations Relief and Works Agency

4 Introductions Outline Session 1 March 13, 2016 Middle East Background UU Grounding on Middle East 3 rd Principle Acceptance of One Another & Encouragement to Spiritual Growth 1 st Principle Respecting the Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person What You Can Do

5 Introductions

6 Middle East Background

7 The Middle East

9 Related Countries

10 UU Grounding

11 Related UU Actions UUA membership in Churches for Middle East Peace 1982 General Assembly General Resolution, United States Policy in Relation to the Israeli-Palestinian-Arab Conflict 1982 Board of Trustees Resolution, Justice in the Middle East 2002 Pastoral Letter from UUA President William G. Sinkford, March 27, 2002, Contributing to a Richer Imagination That Can Lead to Peace 2002 General Assembly Action of Immediate Witness, Toward Peace and Justice in the Middle East 2009 statement, Response to the Current Violence in Gaza 2015 UUSC/UUA joint statement on the refugee crisis and setting up special fund and petition drive to the Obama administration

12 Digging In

13 3 rd UU Principle: Acceptance of One Another and Encouragement to Spiritual Growth Complexity & Covenants

14 Guidelines for Dialoguing in the Beloved Community Because we aspire to create an inclusive community where love and mutual respect are continuously nurtured and supported, even as we discuss complex and challenging issues about which we may strongly disagree, we pledge: To fully own what we think and feel by using I messages when speaking. To embody genuine curiosity through listening deeply and actively with eyes, ears, body, heart and mind to the thoughts and feelings of others. To respond to each other gently and without criticism or argument, recognizing that we are each expressing our own personally valid truths and that those truths may be radically different from each other. To be mindful of sharing the air time with all discussants. While developing consensus through this process is not our goal, we hope to inspire participants, either individually or collectively, to take right action in the world. Joel Neiditz, Theodore Parker UU Church, Boston, MA, May 2013

15 Power Shuffle Goal: Practice Being in Covenant, Express & Respect Differences Rule: No talking Left side = Yes Right side = No Middle = Undecided or Thumbs up or Arm up = Yes Thumbs down or Arm sideways = No In between = Undecided

16 1 st UU Principle: Respect for the Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person A Basis for Social Justice Work Start by Seeking to Understand the People of the Region

17 Digging In, Part 2 Historical Background & Demographics

18 Middle East Timeline An Area of Many Religions Source: the Vox site listed earlier.

19 Middle East Timeline The Ottoman Empire ruled the area for about 500 years, collapsing after World War I. Unitarian history note: Sultan Suleiman met with King Sigismund and his mother. Possibly Unitarian ideas were discussed and solidified.

20 Middle East Timeline Suez Canal, opened in 1868, saving thousands of miles of shipping and associated costs. The Middle East has been a key land bridge for trade routes between Europe and Asia for centuries. Silk, spices, other goods, petroleum and natural gas. Map shows shipping routes in 2011

21 Middle East Timeline Modern Political Zionism Jewish national liberation movement seeking a homeland for safety and security in response to centuries of anti-semitism, violent pogroms. Theodor Herzl, Judenstaat, 1896

22 Middle East Timeline Borders and Colonial Control in 1914

Middle East Timeline Sykes-Picot Agreement, a colonial design created 1915-1916, dividing

23 Middle East Timeline Sykes-Picot Agreement, a colonial design created , dividing control of key areas between Britain and France, planning ahead for the defeat of the Ottoman Empire.

24 Middle East Timeline Balfour Declaration 1917 Letter from the UK Foreign Secretary to a leader of the British Jewish community, Walter Rothschild, expressing support for the project of establishing a Jewish homeland in the Palestine.

25 Middle East Timeline In the Arab Revolt, Arab leaders were promised independence in exchange for assisting in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. The promise was not kept for Arabs in Palestine. In , The League of Nations divided the Ottoman territories into Mandates, include the British Mandate of Palestine. In 1921, Britain installed rulers from the Hashemite family of the Arabian peninsula in Mesopotamia, Transjordan, and Iraq.

Middle East Timeline Support by the British Mandate in control of Palestine altered the proportions of the Jewish/Arab population dramatically in the years leading up to 1948.

26 Middle East Timeline Support by the British Mandate in control of Palestine altered the proportions of the Jewish/Arab population dramatically in the years leading up to The horrors of the Nazi regime caused escalated immigration of Jews to Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s.

27 Jewish refugees arriving at a port in Israel/Palestine Middle East Timeline

From 1948-1949, 700,000-800,000 Palestinian Arabs fled from their homes and land

28 Middle East Timeline The creation of Israel in 1948 was a major victory for Jews. It was considered a catastrophe, or Nakba, for Palestinian Arabs. From , 700, ,000 Palestinian Arabs fled from their homes and land because violence or threat of violence from Zionist paramilitary groups, and 500 villages were destroyed.

29 Middle East Timeline

30 Middle East Timeline Refugee camp in 1948 Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East

31 Middle East Timeline

32 Binary Analysis? Sectarian conflict has been exacerbated and encouraged by foreign intervention beginning with colonial control in the 19 th century and continuing through to today s corporate and foreign influence. Map: BBC Further study: View the video recommended at the end of the presentation, Sectarianism in the Middle East: A Brief History of a Modern Problem.

33 Middle East Timeline Leaders and past leaders of non-democratic Arab regimes in the Greater Middle East have often been allies. King Salman of Saudi Arabia Saddam Hussein, Iraq King Abdullah II, Jordan Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen Hosni Mubarak, Egypt Bashar al-assad, Syria King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahrain

34 Middle East Timeline Sunni and Shia lived together in many areas of Baghdad prior to the interventions. Bombing of Baghdad shows more hits on mixed neighborhoods, and a decline in the area of mixed habitation.

From The Economist, 2011, http://www.economist.com/node/18958237.

35 From The Economist, 2011, Middle East Timeline Of the Arab uprisings that began in 2011, only Tunisia shows some progress toward democracy. Press has referred to the uprisings as the Arab Spring.

36 Middle East Timeline POWER VACUUM When someone has lost control and no one has replaced them. Other forces tend to rush in like air to fill the vacuum.

37 Middle East Timeline ELIMINATION OF LEFTISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES Many despotic regimes in the Middle East have carried out deliberate programs to physically eliminate leftist and human-rights supporting leaders and individuals. Example: Saddam Hussein s Ba athist Party forces assassinated hundreds to thousands of people in Others who were targeted fled to other countries.

38 Middle East Timeline Where did ISIS come from? When Iraq was invaded, the state was dismantled. Members of the Iraq Republican Guard lost their jobs but not their training and weapons caches. Many joined a split from Al-Qaeda, ISIS. Many of these people are/were not particularly religious, but were more secular in outlook. ISIS was a vehicle for these forces to continue their lust for power and wealth by violent means as practiced under Saddam Hussein. ISIS forces moved into areas of Iraq and Syria to establish an Islamic state, took control of oil fields to have a source of income.

39 Middle East Timeline Removal of the Qaddafi dictatorship in Libya created a situation in which recruits trained for his militia left with weapons and entered other conflicts.

40 Middle East Timeline Syrian conflict: A Proxy War Exacerbated by aid from various countries and groups. Of 22 million Syrians, hundreds of thousands have died, and nearly half the population was displaced as of Many have tried to reach Europe and other areas to start life anew. What is Russia doing? Maintaining their military base and access to the Mediterranean.

41 Middle East Timeline As of December 2013 Source: Vox maps link referenced earlier *A percentage of Syrian refugees includes Palestinian refugees from 1948 & descendents who have been living in refugee camps in Syria.

42 Middle East Timeline Yarmouk, Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, 2014; population before the current conflict more than 150,000; current population ~18,000

43 The People Crude diverse religious composition of people of The Levant or Holy Land area. Not shown: Israel proper includes many Muslim and some Christian Palestinian Arabs.

44 The People Tahrir Square, Egypt. Large demonstrations to bring down Mubarak, asking for Dignity. Another chant: Muslims, Christians, we are One.

45 Islamophobia A rise in Islamophobia occurred in the years since 9/11. Americans with an unfavorable view of Islam: % % %

46 Islamophobia Where is it coming from? Center for American Progress: The rise of Islamophobia in the U.S. is not a vast right-wing conspiracy but a small tightly networked group with big funds. Five key people and their groups with funding of $40 million over 10 years.

47 Islamophobia Funding Donors Capital Fund Richard Mellon Scaife Foundation Lynde and Harry Bradlely Foundation Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust Russell Berrie Foundation Anchorage Charitable Fund William Rosenwald Family Fund Fairbrook Foundation

48 Islamophobia Experts Frank Gaffney Center for Security Policy David Yerushalmi Society of Americans for National Existence Daniel Pipes Middle East Forum Robert Spencer Jihad Watch and Stop Islamization of America Steven Emerson Investigative Project on Terrorism

49 Islamophobia Experts Frank Gaffney Center for Security Policy David Yerushalmi Society of Americans for National Existence Daniel Pipes Middle East Forum Robert Spencer Jihad Watch and Stop Islamization of America Steven Emerson Investigative Project on Terrorism

50 It is also rooted in racism.

51 What You Can Do

52 Video: Sectarianism in the Middle East: A Brief History of a Modern Problem Professor Ussama Makdisi Lecture at Rice University View 40 Maps that Explain the Middle East, with a critical eye:

53 March 29 lecture at Rice University, by Toby Jones, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers the distinction between energy and war were systematically erased, remade in a new material order of militarized-energy networks.

54 Visit the UU site Peace and Unity Bridge at Visit for information about our faith s response to the refugee crisis. Refugees are coming also from Afghanistan and other countries besides Syria.

55 Visit to view suggestions for diplomatic solutions rather than military solutions to the wider conflicts in the Middle East. Google Phyllis Bennis and view some of her videos about the origin of current conflicts and militant groups in the Middle East. See her piece on Rethinking U.S. Foreign Policy on Oil and the Middle East Wars at Read about the UUA s divestment from fossil fuels, a key factor in conflict in the region at

56 End of Session 1

Event A: The Decline of the Ottoman Empire

Event A: The Decline of the Ottoman Empire Beginning in the late 13 th century, the Ottoman sultan, or ruler, governed a diverse empire that covered much of the modern Middle East, including Southeastern