How Middle East Statehoods Came to Be and Are Threatened

Nadene Goldfoot

Israelite  Samson of tribe of Dan, fighter of the Philistines, 1118-1078 BCE,  when Israelites desired freedom from the Philistine suzerainty, here in Gaza and destroyed their temple to many gods. Dan was 5th son of Jacob and  Bilhah, handmaid of Rachel.

King Solomon of Israel (961-920 BCE) using his wisdom to decide on who the mother of the baby was 

Judea was a nation created out of the southern portion of Israel after King Solomon died and was a nation for 1,000 years before the Roman empire defeated it and destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 70CE.  Then they exiled hundreds of thousands of Jews who scattered to the 4 winds, many winding up right in Rome as slaves to then be shipped into exile.
                                                                             

Judea's Aluf Bar Kochba who fought Romans for 3 years, 132-135 CE

In 135 CE Rome renamed the country Palaestina/Palestine supposedly after an ancient enemy of the Jews, the Philistines.  They were an Aegean people who had once settled along the coast, most likely in coming to trade.

Later, the land was referred to by Westerners as Palestine.  This name was only accepted in the 20th century by the Arabs living in the surrounding area.  In 1960 "Palestinians became associated with Arabs more than Jews since the Jews were able to re-create their state in 1948, calling it Israel, the original name before the southern part of Israel, Judah, remained as the vital nation it had become.
                                                                         

   
Empires came and left, but none used Jerusalem as their capital.  Many Jews had remained on the land, and some trickled back from exile throughout the ages.  Finally, as anti-Semitism was reaching an apex of horrors for many Jews in eastern Europe in 1880, they began to return in large numbers, like the swallows of Capistrano, coming back to roost.  Their culture and religion had kept every detail of their lives in Israel and Judah/Judea alive, history that had become like yesterday's occurrence.

The Ottoman Empire lasted for 400 years, with the headquarters in Turkey. The former lands of the Judean Kingdom was broken up by them into various administrators by the Ottoman Empire.
1. Vilayet of Aleppo (in today's Syria)
2. Vilayet of Beirut (Lebanon)
3. Vilayet of Syria
4. Vilayet of Hijaz (Saudi Arabia)
5. Mutasarrifiya of Jerusalem
                                                                           

Jewish exiles returning to Palestine-1860 to 1914.  By 1914 there were 85,000 Jews in the Land.  

 Between 1817 and 1917, Palestine was unimportant.  This empire in 1683 included parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.  Palestine was separated into small sub-districts inside the large province of Syria and later, Beirut.  During the empire's decline, Palestine was reduced to a barely populated, impoverished and barren area.  .
                               

British soldier of WWI

British soldier WWI 1917

Along came a WORLD WAR in 1914.  This was not any common war.  This involved the whole world, even the Ottoman Empire.  By aligning themselves with Germany, the cause of this war, they were defeated with Germany.  Since the rest of the countries on this planet were involved, it was an accepted world-wide decision that the Ottoman Empire's lands be ceded to the victorious Allies.  This happened in Europe's defeated empires as well.
                                                                           

New nations were carved out of their defeated empires.  Iraq, Lebanon and Syria were created this way.  They also re-drew Palestine's boundaries and OFFICIALLY recognized it as the JEWISH NATIONAL HOME.   In fact, they did it twice after England allowed Abdullah I to take 80% of the land designated for the Jewish National Home.  First, the LEAGE OF NATIONS voted on it and approved the Jewish Homeland.  Then the UNITED NATIONS (UN)  voted and approved in 1948.

What had happened was that the League of nations set up mandates for France and England, appointing them administrators for 30 years giving new states time to prepare for self-government.  The Brits acted as a British Protectorate. Yes, this land was home to many ancient cultures, and the states now on it were independent only recently.  Israel was created on May 14, 1948.

1.  Egypt 1922 partial  ......Egypt 1952 full (British mandate)
2. Hijaz and Nejd 1927.....Saudi Arabia  1932;  mandated in 1916 (Independent-not British nor French)
3. Iraq...1932  (British mandate)
4. Lebanon...1943 (French mandate)
5. Syria...1946 (under French mandate)
6. Jordan 1946 (British mandate; 80% of Jewish Homeland in 1948, annexed it as West Bank)
7. Israel...1948 (British mandate)
    Oman...1951
    Kuwait...1961
    Bahrain..1971
    Qatar...1971
    South Yemen..1967;
   Yemen 1990 unified
    United Arab Emirates 1971
                                                                               

1967 map before Israel was attacked in Six Day War

                                                               

Ceasefire borders were established giving Israel 9 miles at it's center in width.  f on the map shows the 9 mile distance.  a shows an area of Israel only 3 miles in width.  e shows the 1967 Green Line that Obama wanted Israel to go back to.    Their population was vulnerable to military and terrorist attacks.  During the 1950's and 1960's, terrorist attacks from Arabs opposed to Israel's establishment happened all the time, which meant they were ignoring the ruling from the League of Nations and the UN .  They repeatedly launched attacks from Syria, Jordan's West Bank (previously the Biblical Judah and Samaria-Israel) and Gaza.

1967 was when all of Israel's neighbors and then some more mobilized for a full-scale invasion and blocked her waterways.  Israel preempted them after looking out the window and seeing them all amassed and ready to enter and attack.  It was Israel's defensive war.  They fought for 6 days and Israel captured buffer zones:
1. Golan Heights
2. Sinai Peninsula
3. Gaza
4. Judah and Israel (West Bank)

This was indeed a miracle for such a tiny state to overcome so many Arab nations.The Jews knew they could not run anyplace.  Israel was it.  Fight or die and lose the land you would deed to your children.

Israel immediately offered to negotiate with Jordan, Syria and Egypt and return land for peace.
Arab governments refused to talk or RECOGNIZE ISRAEL.  In 1973, Syria and Egypt pulled a surprise attack to destroy Israel on their sacred Jewish holiday of YOM KIPPUR, and again suffered defeat.

Israel again tried for peace by relinquishing the entire Sinai Peninsula, captured in 1967, back to Egypt while in the Camp David Peace Accords.  By 1994, Jordan and Israel signed a Peace Treaty.

Hoping to use this as a model with the Palestinian Arabs, but Arafat began the violent 2nd Intifada in 2000.  98% of these Arabs lived under an autonomous Palestinian government.

No peace partner was stepping forward.  So Israel withdrew unilaterally from Lebanon in 2000 and from Gaza and parts of Judah-Israel (West Bank) in 2005.  Attacks continually kept up against Israel and this time also came from Hezbollah who took over Lebanon.

Now ISIS (Islamic State) has taken over ground in Syria and Iraq and calls it a Caliphate belonging to Bagdadi of Iraq, a monster in disguise calling himself a religious leader.  Sometimes he had referred to his Caliphate as ISIL.  The L means Levant, a name for all the land in and around Israel which would include Egypt, Jordan and Israel.  He may covet the land, but has not taken it from these 3 strong states.  Even Bagdadi has stopped calling it thus, and uses IS as the name, Islamic State, telling us of the religious aspect of all of this.  After all, Israel did not call itself "JEWISH STATE."  Israel happens to have 1.7 million Israeli Arabs as citizens.  They are made up of various types of religious outlooks; Christians and various forms of Islamists.
                                                                                   

IS is threatening all the Middle East States. IS, Islamic extremist group in western Iraq and Syria, self-styled as the "Islamic State" was created by

Bagdadi 

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, born as Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri). He calls himself a caliph now.   His capture or death is worth $10 million dollars. 

                                                                           

 Al Qaeda's leader,Ayman al-Zawahiri, is worth $25 million dollars.  

                                                          

Yemen has folded up as a state in a take-over by Houthis, directed from Iran.  "The main fight is between forces loyal to the beleaguered President, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis, who forced Mr Hadi to flee the capital Sanaa in February."  

"It started last September, when thousands of fighters from northern Yemen seized control of the country's capital, Sanaa. The government was weak, its army fractured, and the rebels - called the Houthis - took the city in only four days."

The Shia religious aspect of Islam from the Houthis comes from Iran, which  is the main Shi'a state in the Middle East with about 76,923,300 population of which 98% are Shi'a.  Iran is also an Islamic state.  Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is made up of 27,601,038 of which all are Sunnis and also declares they are an Islamic state.  

Lebanon is actually be run by Hezbollah, another Shia group.  That makes an inroad of 2 states that Iran now has hold of.  We've had the USA and Iran against IS, which is an odd situation.  "In Syria, Hezbollah, the Iranian-supported Shiite militant movement, and the Iranian paramilitary Al Quds force, have kept President Bashar al-Assad in power." So Assad is beholding to Iran.  Make that 3 states that Iran now has hold of.  The Sunnis are losing ground.  IS is neither Shi'a or Sunni.  They seem to come from Salafists, a very extreme offshoot of Sunnis.  

Resource:  Israel 101 by StandWithUs
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31907671
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Bakr_al-Baghdadi
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/world/middleeast/iran-airstrikes-hit-islamic-state-in-iraq.html?_r=0
http://www.bible-history.com/geography/ancient-israel/ot/aroer.html  beautiful colored map of ancient Israel and all the cities and citing where they were from in Tanakh (Bible).
http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-route-date-chronology-of-judges.htm