Ireland, India, and the Middle East

Ireland

• Part of United Kingdom• Irish in Parliament

– Republicans (Irish nationalists)

– Gain balance of power between English parties

• Ireland rebels against England– Easter Rebellion/Rising (1916)

Ireland

• After WWI– Irish Free State created as a member of the British

Commonwealth (1920)

• Full independence desired– Vote taken by county on full independence

• Southern counties become Republic of Ireland (originally Eire)• Northern counties (Ulster) remain part of the United Kingdom

• “The Troubles”– Intimidation of Catholic minority in Northern Ireland– Terrorism in Northern Ireland and England

Ireland

• Was it “right” for Ireland to rebel during WWI?

India

• During WWI – No rebellion against

England (supported with troops, etc.)

• After WWI– Active disobedience

(non-violent)

India

“Nonviolence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute. The spirit lies dormant in the brute and he knew no law but that of physical might. The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law – to the strength of the spirit…”

– Gandhi

India

Civil Disobedience

“Civil disobedience is the inherent right of a citizen.… Disobedience, to be civil, must be sincere, respectful, restrained, never defiant, must be based upon some well-understood principle, must not be capricious and, above all, must have no ill will or hatred behind it.”

– Gandhi

Gandhi's march to the salt deposit at Dharsana (May 1930)

"Suddenly at a word of command, scores of native policemen rushed upon the advancing marchers and rained blows on their heads with their steel-shod latha. Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off the blows. They went down like ten pins. From where I stood I heard the sickening whack of the clubs on unprotected skulls. The waiting crowd of marchers groaned and sucked in their breath in sympathetic pain at every blow... They marched steadily, with heads up, without the encouragement of music or cheering or any possibility that they might escape serious injury or death. The police rushed out and methodically and mechanically beat down the second column. There was no fight, no struggle; the marchers simply walked forward till struck down. The police commenced to savagely kick the seated men in the abdomen and testicles and then dragged them by their arms and feet and threw them into the ditches... Hour after hour stretcher-bearers carried back a stream of inert bleeding bodies... By 11 A.M. the heat had reached 116 degrees and the assault subsided."

– United Press, as quoted in Gardner, Howard, Creating Minds, Basic Books, 1993, p.345.

India

• During WWII– No rebellion against England (supported with

troops, etc.)

Why would Gandhi support Great Britain during WWII?

• After WWII– Active disobedience (non-violent)

India

“My life is my message.”– Gandhi

Understanding the Middle East

A story from Raed Al-Zubi

Know your customersA disappointed salesman of Coca Cola returned from his Middle East assignment. A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Arabs?"

The salesman explained : "When I got posted in the Middle East , I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there. But, I had a problem. I didn't speak Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters...

First poster: A man lying in the hot desert sand...totally exhausted and fainting.

Second poster: The man is drinking our Cola.

Third poster: Our man is now totally refreshed.

And then these posters were pasted all over the place. "Then that should have worked!" said the friend.

" It should have! " said the salesman. " But I didn't realize that Arabs read from right to left."

Middle East• Balfour Declaration

November 2nd, 1917 Dear Lord Rothschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His

Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely, Arthur James Balfour [Foreign Secretary]

Middle East ― Between the wars

• British and French protectorates established as “arbitrary” countries

• Family of Sharif of Mecca denied rule• Saudi-led unification of Arabia

– Backed by European nations

• Desires for self-rule in protectorates• Sons of Sharif established as kings in Syria,

Iraq, and Jordan• Palestine retained as British protectorate

Middle East

• Zionism after WWI• Jewish migration protected by Great

Britain• Jews purchase land from Arabs• Socialism (Kibbutz farms and factories)• Migration halted during WWII except for

a few refugees

Middle East

• Aftermath of WWII– Millions of refugees seek

asylum in British-run Palestine

– Britain becomes alarmed at the numbers and tries to stop immigration

– Jewish terrorism to oust Britain

Aftermath of WWII

• Elie Wiesel– Night

• Viktor Frankl– Man’s Search

for Meaning

Middle East

• Great Britain seeks to give up Palestinian mandate

• United Nations agrees to decide question1. Should the Arabs rule the

state (majority rule)?2. Should the Jews be given a

homeland (charity)?

Middle East

• War at formation of Israel– Partition into Israel and West bank along the

“Green Line”– Millions of Palestinian refugees

• Series of wars between Israel and Arab neighbors– Israel supported by the United States– Eventually led to Israel occupation of the

West bank

• Tentative agreement on Palestinian territory– Disruption by terrorism

“Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past.”

Discussion

What does this mean for the Middle East?

• The United States brought into the Middle East battle with 9/11– Why did the terrorists

strike against the US?• Why is terrorism so

prevalent in the world today?

Terrorism

"Adversity does not make character;

adversity reveals character."

– Wife of the pilot of Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11/01.

What will we learn from terrorism?

Thank You

Creatively fighting terrorism