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Highly Patriarchal Social Framework.
In many parts of the Middle East, women are little more than chattel today based on longstanding customs: "From 3000 B.C.-A.D. 1100, man's view of himself as superior in all ways to women soon became enshrined in the law and custom of the world's earliest civilizations, those of the Middle East. Women became a chattel first of her father, then of her husband, then of her son" (Sechzer, 2004, p. 51). While the laws and practices vary, the majority of Islamic countries in the Middle East have specific beliefs about women and have restrictions concerning them (Sechzer, 2004). Religious tenets in the more restrictive regions are used to "keep women in their place" and violence against women sometimes even takes the form of killing. In her book, Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones, Giles (2004) notes that, "In the Middle East, for instance, 'honor killing' is prevalent. Amnesty International reports that "[i]n Pakistan, hundreds of women, of all ages, in all parts of the country and for a variety of reasons connected with perceptions of honor are killed every year. The number of such killings appears to be steadily increasing as the perception of what constitutes honor -- and what damages it -- steadily...
108). Likewise, the deposed Taliban regime in Afghanistan used a variety of brutal forms of violence against all the women of the country (Giles & Hyndman, 2004). Today, women are still controlled by their husbands and by their husbands' families (Sechzer, 2004). While the cultures of these regions of the world may believe that such practices, including the use of violence against women are just fine and dandy so long as everyone agrees, the rest of the international community has become increasingly outspoken against these societies, and the ongoing war against terrorism being prosecuted in Afghanistan and Iraq today is proof positive that this patriarchal arrangement will remain a source of conflict in the future.
Inter- and Intra-Religious Differences.
The Middle East features the mixed blessing of having religious sites that are common to the three major faiths in the region, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Jerusalem in particular remains a mish-mash of legalities and religious niceties that have thus far allowed all three faiths to co-exist, but tensions remain high and everyone suspects everyone else of trying to preempt their historic claims on every square inch of soil. In this explosive environment, history
Middle East Violence Three major sources of violence in the Middle East are religion, nationalism and ideology. Each source contributes to some extent to the violence, depending on the conflict. Some conflicts are largely religious in nature, such as the Shiite uprising in the Sadaa region of Yemen (McGregor, 2005). Others are rooted in nationalism, such as the conflict between Kurds and Turks in southeastern Turkey (Haney, 1999). Most conflicts blend
Their primary operations revolve around programs of exchange and dialogues, but also the offering of support for various endeavors aimed at increasing social and economic stability for the Egyptian population (HANDS Website, 2006). The institution was founded in 1988 and has since offered its support to more than 30 local organizations that were struggling to improve the quality of life for the native population. Aside the moral and economic help,
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the balance of economic strength had shifted entirely to western Europe and especially to Britain and France, which were then passing into the second stage of the industrial revolution that Turkey had hardly begun. The European powers would use their political and economic power to force the empire to allow its economy to be incorporated into the nineteenth-century liberal capitalist system. Free
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has also become a major distributor world of oil, in addition to the Middle East. Although its policies can no longer be predicted as reliably as during the Cold War, its interests are not always commensurate with any one actor, and it is now a volatile presence in international affairs that the United States must take into consideration when making policies. The
The Taliban also destroyed ancient religious monuments that they deemed violative of Muslim teachings even those these monuments were part of the world's heritage. It was in this environment that charismatic Muslim leaders such as Osama bin Laden were able to step in and exploit the situation to their own advantage by inspiring yet more freedom fighters from all over the Arab world to join the battle to free
Middle East Conflict As an Israeli citizen, I often find myself awestruck at our present situation. The needs and desires of people in my country are not unlike those of most people. We desire to live and work in safety; we want have peace with those around us; but we also want to maintain our traditions and our heritage as we see fit. Israel has again and again suffered attacks because