Oil in the Middle East OPEC Member NaEons About 2/3 of the world s known oil reserves are located in the Middle East Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, & other countries have obtained great wealth from their oil Most of them are members of the OrganizaEon of Petroleum ExporEng Countries, or OPEC Since it came into existence in the early 1970s, OPEC has controlled the price of crude oil, ooen to the detriment of Western countries like the US
What Oil Means to the Middle East Oil revenues have allowed OPEC naeons to modernize their countries & promote industrializaeon, economic development & social programs Oil has also been a source of conflict Some countries have used their oil money to build up their military, maintain power, & even threaten their neighbors Oil has led to internal clashes within countries, and internaeonal clashes with outside naeons dependent on oil
Growth of Islamism Islamic fundamentalism, or Islamism, is another regional issue that has led to conflict in the Middle East Islamists want to reorder government & society according to Islamic law They believe Muslim countries have strayed from the path of true Islam by following Western models of poliecal & economic development
Clashes Between Moderates & Radicals Over the last 5 decades, countries such as Egypt, Iran, & Iraq have seen a growth of Islamism that has led to clashes with secular governments & moderate Muslims Furthermore, some Islamic extremists have used violence to try to bring about the changes they want These radical extremists have azacked regional governments, moderate Muslims, Israel & the US, and innocent civilians
Conflicts With Israel Since Israel was established in 1948, most Middle Eastern countries have refused to recognize its right to exist Some countries have repeatedly azacked Israel & funded militant groups that conduct raids & terrorist azacks against Israelis This has led to a series of wars between Israel & its neighbors, & since Israel has been victorious in all these conflicts, the Jewish state has expanded As a result, many more PalesEnian Arabs live under Israeli control, especially in the West Bank & Gaza
In 1967, Egypt s Pres. Nasser demanded the UN remove its peacekeeping troops from the Gaza Strip & Sinai peninsula EgypEan troops then moved into the Sinai, then closed off the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel s route to the Red Sea ExpecEng a large- scale EgypEan azack, Israel decided to strike first on June 5, 1967 The Six- Day War
A Quick Israeli Victory Israel launched air strikes that took out most of the air forces of Egypt, Syria, & Jordan Then Israeli ground forces moved in & rapidly defeated Arab armies During the Six- Day War, Israel took control of the Golan Heights, West Bank, & East Jerusalem By taking control of the West Bank & Gaza, Israel came to rule over several million PalesEnian Arabs
Another War, Another Arab Loss The embarrassed Arab countries surrounding Israel took a few years to lick their wounds Determined to win their territory back, Egypt & Syria launched the Yom Kippur War, with a surprise azack on the Jewish holiday in 1973 At first, Egypt made gains in the war because Israel was not fully prepared Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir requested US help, & got it from Pres. Richard Nixon
The Arabs Create OPEC With US support, the Israeli Defense Forces regrouped & pushed back the EgypEan & Syrian armies, so that aoer weeks of figheng, both sides agreed to a cease- fire But the fact that the US helped Israel rankled the Arab countries- they formed OPEC at this Eme During the war, OPEC declared an oil embargo against the US & other countries that helped Israel The price of oil around the world rose dramaecally lines formed at US gas staeons for limited fuel supplies
UnEl the late 1970s, no Arab naeon had recognized Israel s right to exist 1977- EgypEan president Anwar Sadat made a momentous decision: Egypt wanted peace with Israel US President Jimmy Carter tried to aid peace in the region by summoning Sadat & Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to talks at Camp David, the presideneal retreat in Maryland A Peace Agreement
The Camp David Accords hzps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhu- YgCyPz4 As the world watched, two former sworn enemies Sadat & Begin clasped hands & reached a peace agreement known as the Camp David Accords Egypt agreed to recognize Israel s right to exist, while Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt The treaty in 1978 ended 30 years of hoselity between the two countries Sadly, Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by Muslim extremists for signing the Camp David Accords
As Egypt & Israel made peace, PalesEnian Arabs conenued their struggle for naeonhood The 1947 UN plan for PalesEne called for 2 states, one Jewish, one Arab AOer the Arab- Israeli War of 1948, however, the land set aside for the Arab state was occupied by Egypt, Israel, & Jordan 1964- The PalesEnian naeonalist movement formed the PalesEne LiberaEon OrganizaEon (PLO) with a pledge to destroy Israel & reconquer lost territory PalesEnian Unrest
The Rise of Arafat By 1969, a leader of the PLO emerged who had been trained by the Nazi SS Yasser Arafat Under his leadership, the PLO launched a campaign of guerrilla azacks against Israel, first from Jordan, then from Lebanon At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, West Germany, PLO terrorists azacked & killed Israeli athletes In an effort to stop the PLO azacks, Israel invaded Lebanon in 1978, & again in 1982 Meanwhile, tensions were building in the West Bank & Gaza, where Israel was building sezlements
The InEfada 1987- PalesEnian resentment over Israeli occupaeon boiled over into a rebellion called the inefada During the inefada, PalesEnian youths bazled Israeli troops in widespread street violence Israel responded with strong military & police resistance, but the figheng conenued into the early 1990s
1993- At the urging of US Pres. Bill Clinton, PLO leader Yasser Arafat & Israeli prime minister Yitzak Rabin sat down to negoeate an end to the figheng by meeeng in Oslo, Norway The so- called Oslo Accords called for the PalesEnians to gradually gain control over governing the West Bank & Gaza Israel & the PLO were supposed to sign a permanent agreement by 1998 But that didn t happen- extremists on both sides sabotaged the treaty The Oslo Accords
The Rise of Hamas A militant group of the PLO, called Hamas, launched suicide bombings inside Israel, causing the Israelis to put implementaeon of the Oslo Accords on hold Then, in 1995, an Israeli religious fanaec assassinated Rabin RelaEons between Israel & the PalesEnians soured
A Second InEfada 2000 A second inefada began, but this Eme, PalesEnian youths were joined by PalesEnian security forces, who had guns Hamas sent suicide bombers into Israel to azack civilians, so Israel countered by sending troops backed by tanks, fighter jets, & helicopter gunships into ciees in the West Bank & Gaza 2004- Yasser Arafat died & was succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas
The Wall & Other Divisions To stop the suicide azacks, Israel Eghtened security in & out of the West Bank & Gaza by building a high concrete wall around their boundary with Israel The same year as Arafat s death, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon decided to withdraw troops from Gaza & the West Bank He turned control over those areas to the PLO in 2005, but the two areas sell are part of Israel Tensions grew again, & in 2006, Hamas, a terrorist group, seized control of the PalesEnian Parliament In a precarious power- sharing agreement, the PLO runs the West Bank, while Hamas controls the Gaza Strip hzps://www.youtube.com/watch? v=2ph9g39muwo
Two More Quick Wars 2006- Armed conflict erupted again aoer militants kidnapped several Israeli soldiers along the borders with Gaza and Lebanon Israel launched massive air strikes & ground offensives in Gaza & southern Lebanon to root out extremists & secure its borders- which worked for a while 2014- Hamas militants began firing as many as 1000 rockets per day into Israel from Gaza Israeli leaders decided to again send in their tanks & soldiers to defeat the militants the rocket assaults have since ceased