READY+FOR+YOUR+QUIZ?

Dear students:

By now, you should be able to understand and explain in your own words the following:

The **Middle East** is the **birthplace of three mayor religions**: Judaism, Islam and Christianism. A complex network of geo-political, religious, ethnic and personal relationships makes this region so desired, that people fought many times to control the region. **The Palestine, the ancient homeland of the Jew** **People** is at the center of the troubles in the region. Israelites and Palestinians, the landholders of this land before the Jewish People became a nation-state, fight daily as of today. Arab nations such as Iran consider Israel an enemy, to the extent that current **Iranian president**, denies that Jew suffered the **Holocaust**. Western nations interpret his statement as a menace to peace in the region and are very concerned regarding Iran’s plans for nuclear weapons. Former president **Jimmy Carte**r has made a statement recently calling for Israel to stop building new settlements at the **West Bank**. His calling is still in accordance with British Prime minister **Balfour**, who warned Israelites to do nothing that would prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing **non-Jew communities living in Palestine**. Meanwhile, **Saudi Arabia** has made an effort to create a top university seeking to become a **“beacon of tolerance,”** an effort for Arab unity. As read in **Juan 4:9,** the Samaritan women evidenced that Jews and Samaritans did not talk each other. The record is at least 2000 years old. As watched in **Lawrence of Arabia**, Arabs have been rivals for centuries. T W Lawrence warned that as long Arabs behave as barbarians killing each other they would never be a united nation. **He led Arabs** **against the Turks** who controlled Akaha, city of importance for its geo-political position. **Arabs helped** **British defeat the Ottoman Empire** and yet decisions taken **behind the backs** of Arabs and Jews were made by **Sykes and Picot** to favor their countries respectively. This decision set the stage for future confrontations. Balfour Declaration reached Arabs as a bombshell also. This document came about in part to encourage Jewish businessmen in America to support US president Wilson request for money for war. Some people interpret the **letter to Rothschild, leader of Zionism in Great Britain**, as an insinuation to get money from the Rothschild family and rich Jews in US. But, President Wilson had led the nations in the past, to follow the **Mandate System**, a system that demanded accountability from nations that took over ex-German and Ottoman colonies in the **Middle East, Africa and the Pacific.** Since President Wilson showed to be a well-intentioned man, some others did not believe there was a connection between Balfour Declaration and money for loans. One thing is extremely clear. **The Promised Land**, according Jew belief, a land **promised by God to Abraham** and his descendants, in today’s Israel, is located in the center of the world, between Europe bathed by the Mediterranean Sea, Africa separated by the Red Sea and Arabia, home to **millions of Muslims who also call Abraham father**. Its geo-political position, and the intricate web of religious ramifications made the Middle East, the center of trouble between Arabs and Jews.