UN Walkout as Ahmadinejad claims "Israel is a racist government"; Iran: Punish U.S. for "shameful" nuclear threats.
Western diplomats have walked out of a speech by the Iranian president at a UN anti-racism conference after he described Israel as a "racist government". Israel was described by former President Jimmy Carter as an apartheid state.
Ahmadinejad, said Jewish migrants from Europe and the United States had been sent to the Middle East after World War II "in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine".
He continued "And in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine."
Paltalk News - Ahmadinejad UN Protest
As Iranian Pres. Mahmood Ahmadinejad prepared to address a UN conference on nuclear non-proliferation, members of Green (young pro-Liberty groups within Iran) Movement protested outside.
Bitta Mustofi of the group Where Is My Vote? wants to hold the international community accountable for not addressing the human rights violations in Iran, while focusing only on the threat of nuclear weapons development.
She argues that additional sanctions or military action would only hurt the average Iranian, not the regime.
Chapter 18: Nationalism Around the World, 1919–1939
Gandhi's March to the Sea
Section 1 Nationalism in the Middle East
Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Impact of World War I
Massacre of the Armenians
Emergence of the Turkish Republic
Atatürk (1881–1938)
The Modernization of Turkey
Atatürk’s Reforms in Turkey
Westernization Transforms Turkey
The Beginnings of Modern Iran
Arab Nationalism
The Middle East, 1920s, Cf. http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=nap&wcsuffix=2721
Col. William A. Eddy reported on when President Franklin D. Roosevelt (right) met with King Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud), of Saudi Arabia, on board USS Quincy (CA-71) in the Great Bitter Lake, Egypt, on 14 February 1945.
The Problem of Palestine
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Brief History
Since Roman times, Jews had dreamed of returning to the land of Judea, or Israel. In 1897, Theodor Herzl (hurt sul) responded to growing anti-Semitism, or prejudice against Jewish people,in Europe by founding the modern Zionist movement. His goal was to rebuild a Jewish state in Palestine. Among other things, violent pogroms against Jews in Russia prompted thousands of them to migrate to Palestine. They joined the small Jewish community that had lived there since biblical times.
Vocabulary Builder
advocated—(ad vuh kayt id) v. supported or favored
From 1919 to 1940, tens of thousands of Jews immigrated to Palestine due to the Zionist movement and the effects of anti-Semitism in Europe. Despite great hardships, Jewish settlers set up factories, built new towns, and established farming communities. At the same time, the Arab population almost doubled. Many were immigrants from nearby lands. As a result, Palestine's population included a changing mix of newcomers. The Jewish population, which was less than 60,000 in 1919, grew to about 400,000 in 1936, while the Muslim population increased from about 568,000 in 1919 to about 1 million in 1940.
At first, some Arabs welcomed the money and modern technical skills that the newcomers brought with them. But as more Jews moved to Palestine, tensions between the two groups developed. Jewish organizations tried to purchase as much land as they could, while Arabs sought to slow down or stop Jewish immigration. Religious differences between Jews and Arabs heightened tensions. Arabs attacked Jewish settlements, hoping to discourage settlers. The Jewish settlers established their own military defense force. For the rest of the century, Arab and Jews fought over the land that Arabs called Palestine and Jews called Israel.
Reading Check
Explaining
Why did the Balfour Declaration produce problems in Palestine?
Chapter 18 References
The End of the British Empire, Cf. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/g3/default.htm
Video clips of Gandhi and other Indian leaders
The life of Gandhi
Find out more about African independence
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Brief History
Middle East
Oil
Section 2 Preview
Section 2 Nationalism in Africa and Asia
After World War I, Germany lost its African colonies to Britain and France. Violent suppression and the slow pace of reform in the colonies led many Africans to agitate for independence. Two African Americans, W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, were influential in building African cultural awareness and Pan-African unity. Mohandas Gandhi built a large movement for Indian independence through nonviolence. Indian Muslims felt sidelined by the largest independence organization, the Indian National Congress, and called for a separate Muslim state. Rapid industrialization in Japan led to support for territorial expansion to improve Japan's access to raw materials and markets. After a period of pacifism prompted in part by pressure from the United States, Japan conquered Manchuria, and the military took control of the government. The Communist International helped build Communist parties in China and Southeast Asia.
Movements toward Independence in Africa
African nationalism brought little political change, except to Egypt. Egyptians had suffered during World War I. After the war, protests, strikes, and riots forced Britain to grant Egypt independence in 1922. However, Britain still controlled Egypt’s monarchy.
Displeased with this state of affairs, during the 1930s many young Egyptians joined an organization called the Muslim Brotherhood. This group fostered a broad Islamic nationalism that rejected Western culture and denounced corruption in the Egyptian government.
Muslim Brotherhood in the United States
The Muslim Brotherhood has been active in the US since the 1960s. Its stated goals have included creating havens for Muslims in the US. According to the Washington Post, some Muslim activists "express anti-U.S. views or support resistance against Israelis."
The Holy Land Foundation trial has led to the release as evidence of several documents on the Muslim Brotherhood. One of these documents, dated in 1991, explains that the goal of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. is “settlement”, defined by the author as a form of jihad aimed at destroying Western civilization from within and allowing for the victory of Islam over other religions. In another one of these documents, "Ikhwan in America", the author alleges that the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in the US include going to camps to do weapons training (referred to as Special work by the Muslim Brotherhood), as well as engaging in counter-espionage against US government agencies such as the FBI and CIA (referred to as Securing the Group). In November 2008 the Holy Land Foundation was found guilty of illegally funding Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which is designated by the United States as a terrorist group. Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood founder, speaks in the U.S.
New Leaders
African American scholar and activist W.E.B. DuBois (doo boys) organized the first Pan-African Congress in 1919. It met in Paris, where the Allies were holding their peace conference. Delegates from African colonies, the West Indies, and the United States called on the Paris peacemakers to approve a charter of rights for Africans. Although the Western powers ignored their demands, the Pan-African Congress established cooperation among African and African American leaders.
In the 1920s, a movement known as Pan-Africanism began to nourish the nationalist spirit and strengthen resistance. Pan-Africanism emphasized the unity of Africans and people of African descent worldwide. Among its most inspiring leaders was Jamaica-born Marcus Garvey. He preached a forceful, appealing message of “Africa for Africans” and demanded an end to colonial rule. Garvey’s ideas influenced a new generation of African leaders.
Jomo Kenyatta was a leader in Kenya’s struggle for independence from British rule. During the 1920s and 1930s, a new generation of leaders, proud of their unique heritage, struggled to stop imperialism and restore Africa for Africans.
Reading Check
Analyzing
Why did many Africans become more politically active after World War I?
The Movement for Indian Independence
Protest and Reform
Gandhi’s philosophy reflected Western as well as Indian influences. He admired Christian teachings about love. He believed in the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau’s ideas about civil disobedience, the refusal to obey unjust laws. Gandhi was also influenced by Western ideas of democracy and nationalism. He urged equal rights for all Indians, women as well as men. He fought hard to end the harsh treatment of untouchables, who were members of the lowest caste, or class.
A Push for Independence
Since 1885, the Indian National Congress party, called the Congress party, had pressed for self-rule within the British empire. After Amritsar, it began to call for full independence. But party members were mostly middle-class, Western-educated elite who had little in common with the masses of Indian peasants. In the 1920s, a new leader named Mohandas Gandhi emerged and united Indians across class lines.
New Leaders and New Problems
In 1939, a new world war exploded. Britain outraged Indian leaders by postponing independence and bringing Indians into the war without consulting them. Angry nationalists launched a campaign of noncooperation and were jailed. Millions of Indians, however, did help Britain during World War II.
When the war ended in 1945, India’s independence could no longer be delayed. As it neared, Muslim fears of the Hindu majority increased. Conflict between Hindus and Muslims would trouble the new nation in the years to come.
Reading Check
Identifying
What three non-British conflicts affected the Indian independence movements in the 1930s?
The Rise of a Militarist Japan
A Zaibatsu Economy
Japan and the West
The Rise of Militarism
In 1931, a group of Japanese army officers provoked an incident that provided an excuse to seize Manchuria. They set explosives and blew up tracks on a Japanese-owned railroad line. Then, they claimed that the Chinese had committed the act. Claiming self-defense, the army attacked Chinese forces. Without consulting their own government, the Japanese military forces conquered all of Manchuria and set up a puppet state there that they called Manzhouguo (man choo kwoo). They brought in Puyi, the last Chinese emperor, to head the puppet state. When politicians in Tokyo objected to the army’s highhanded actions, public opinion sided with the military.
When the League of Nations condemned Japanese aggression against China, Japan simply withdrew itself from the League. Soon, the Japanese government nullified the agreements limiting naval armament that it had signed with the Western democracies in the 1920s. The League’s member states failed to take military action against Japanese aggression.
Japan's Expanding Empire to 1934
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Map Skills
Japan expanded its territory in Asia between 1918 and 1934. From their conquered lands, the Japanese acquired natural resources to fuel their industries.
1. Locate:
(a) Japan (b) Korea (c) Manchuria (d) Taiwan
2. Region
Where were Japan’s main manufacturing areas located?
3. Draw Conclusions
What natural resource does Korea lack but Manchuria have?
In the early 1930s, ultranationalists were winning support from the people for foreign conquests and a tough stand against the Western powers. Members of extreme nationalist societies assassinated a number of politicians and business leaders who opposed expansion. Military leaders plotted to overthrow the government and, in 1936, briefly occupied the center of Tokyo.
Civilian government survived, but the unrest forced the government to accept military domination in 1937. To please the ultranationalists, the government cracked down on socialists and suppressed most democratic freedoms. It revived ancient warrior values and built a cult around Emperor Hirohito, whom many believed was descended from the sun goddess. To spread its nationalist message, the government used schools to teach students absolute obedience to the emperor and service to the state.
Reading Check
Examining
How did the Japanese government change from the 1920s to the 1930s?
Nationalism and Revolution in Asia
The Spread of Communism
Some Chinese turned to the revolutionary ideas of Marx and Lenin. The Soviet Union was more than willing to train Chinese students and military officers to become the vanguard, or elite leaders, of a communist revolution. By the 1920s, a small group of Chinese Communists had formed their own political party.
Communist Parties in Asia
Reading Check
Evaluating
What was the relationship between communism and imperialism?
Preview
Section 3 Revolutionary Chaos in China
Nationalists and Communists
Reading Check
Explaining
How did Chiang Kai-shek change the Communist-Nationalist alliance?
The Communists in Hiding
Reading Check
Identifying
Which group did Mao believe would start the Communist Revolution in China?
The Long March
Reading Check
Explaining
Why did it seem that communism was no longer a threat to China after the Long March?
The New China of Chiang Kai-shek
Reading Check
Identifying
What was the intended final stage of Chiang Kai-shek's reform program?
Maher Zain - Palestine Will Be Free | ماهر زين - فلسطين سوف تتحرر
Awakening Records, Palestine will be Free, performed by Maher Zain.
Email to gmsmith@shanahan.org
Tuesday: p. 565, Geography Skills, #1-2
p. 565
Reading Check
Evaluating
How did the Ottoman Empire finally end?
