Middle East

Consumer Behavior Consumer behaviour in Islamic states has some limitations when compared to Western countries. For Muslims, the goal in life and work is always associated with traditions and religion. These practices are in turn, reflected in many aspects of business and the consumption patterns of consumers in the Middle East.

Kavoossi (2000) outlined the Consumer behavior in an Islamic society based on four general principles: the belief in the last day (Akhira); the Islamic concept of success; the Islamic concept of wealth (Kavoossi, 1988); and the moral dimensions of consumer behavior, such as limitations placed on consumption, or principles of caring for others ( Kahf, 1981) (qtd in Kavoossi 2000,p. 26). Shariah also sets the protocol for consumer behaviour in Islamic societies. Some important moral dimensions of consumer behavior include “defining Halal (lawful), Haram (unlawful), and Makrough (conditional) articles” (Kavoossi 2000,p.29).

Given the restrictions, the investor should first determine whether the business or goods that he plans to establish in the Middle East conforms to the cultural and traditional constructs. In the study of Ford, Nonis and Hudson (2005), it revealed that most Middle East countries were group oriented. The collective was far more important than individual opinions. Social interaction are “often unselfish behaviors…it is most important in these cultures where what others think of them is critical to be accepted in the group”(p. 43).

Lebanese consumers were ““followers” and support common welfare, protect the interests of their members and expect respect and loyalty in return”. (p. 43). Competition Prices in Bahrain could also be influenced by the presence of other similar American fastfood chains operating in the area together with Dairy Queen’s restaurant. It should also be reasonably priced for the type of products offered. Both local and international fast food chains compete for Bahraini customers both local and expatriates. Bahrain This Month (2007) listed several fast food chains that have approximately the same price ranges (below 5 BD).

(See Table 2) The presence of many American-based fast food chains explained the Bahraini investors willingness to invest in American brands. In 2005, there were over 40 U. S. franchised restaurants that operated in Bahrain. Most franchise owners financed the business through bank loans, personal or family resources (p. 24) Table 2 – Selected Fast Food Chains in Bahrain (Bahrain This Month 2007) Others Pricing is also influenced by other factors such as shipping and importation costs. Although US products face stiff competition from Europe and Asia, the exchange rate shifts in European and Asian currencies counterbalance the costs.

Usually, importers impose a mark-up of 10-15 percent while retail food prices are usually 25-30 percent above their import prices (US Foreign Commercial Service and US Department of State 2004, p. 39). The distance from US mainland to Bahrain also required on the average four to five weeks’ travel from US ports to Arabian Gulf ports (AgExporter 1996). Power, water, communication and gas are subsidized by the state and therefore cheaper than usual. In the United States, Dairy Queen had ceased using discount prices on its products. Instead it focused on introducing new products to the menu to whet up the appetites of their customers.

It not only attracted new customers, it also helped build their brand (Garber 2004, p. 4). Analyzing Business Processes SWOT Analysis SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis technique is often used as a key tool in strategic planning of business processes. This analysis tool is employed to examine the areas where the organization can be improved and enhanced. Table 1 lists some of the possible areas for consideration. (See Table 3) Table 3. SWOT Analysis (Possible areas for consideration) Strengths 1. Human Resource The company’s value is in its human resource. (i. e. strong technical staff).

2. Organization Competence of managers is reviewed. 3. Budget Are there available funds for upgrade? 4. Project Management Cycle Product Life-Cycle; end-of-life cycle 5. Vision and Mission Company initiative to implement improvements. Weaknesses 1. Human Resource Attitudes towards change 2. Organization Monitoring and evaluation tools Scheduling Project tracking and review 3. Budget Costs of Projects are questionable 4. Project Management Priority settings 5. Customer service Opportunities 1. Business reputation clearly established 2. Strong marketing strategy – 3. Customer base 4. Strong financial foundations.

5. Technology enabled Threats 1. Economic down-turn 2. Rapid technological development might overtake their technological infrastructure improvement 3. Legacy system migration might be too costly. 4. More competitors. Using the SWOT analysis can show the current state of the company and the initiated efforts to improve their operations. The lack of coherent project implementation and improvement plans weakens the company’s position. Given that the customers are the ones suggesting to the company that they improve their business processes, the company must heed the advice of their customers.

The customers are quite concerned about incurred costs. Porter’s Five Forces Michael Porter proposed a model to evaluate a company’s opportunity within the industry. The five forces that shape competition within an industry are: “(1) the risk of entry by potential competitors, (2) the intensity of rivalry among established companies within an industry, (3) the bargaining power of buyers, (4) the bargaining power of suppliers, and (5) the closeness of substitutes to an industry’s products” (Hill ; Jones 2004, p.

40). Porter’s five forces analysis is used to evaluate the competitive advantage of the company. Porter’s five forces would help IDQ identify its competitors outside the United States. With more and more foreign fast food businesses opening in Bahrain, it is important for the company to carefully size up its competitors.

“If you’re looking to succeed, keep your eyes and heart open to opportunities. You’ll miss opportunities that come to you if you’re not open to them. Success is about that present themselves to you.” This is what Noor Sweid told the audience during her keynote address at the , and one look at her impressive career graph so far makes it clear that this is, indeed, a woman who has (and continues to) put into practice what she preaches. Sweid definitely seems to have an uncanny eye for great opportunities- her work profile reads like that if someone who has, really, done it all.

She’s worked for big-name corporates (these include Charles Schwab and Accenture), she has facilitated her ’ (the Dubai-headquartered global interior contracting company, Depa) multimillion dollar growth and eventual US$1 billion IPO, she’s launched and run her own business (the ZenYoga chain of yoga studios in Dubai that she founded in 2006 and ran until its sale in 2014), she’s been an investor in and mentor for several startups in the Middle East ecosystem (besides her own portfolio of investments, Sweid is also a member of the Board of Directors at , and she’s currently a Managing Partner at , a MENA- based growth stage venture capital firm. So yes –if that last sentence’s length didn’t make it clear already- Noor Sweid does seem to have done it all.

On why encouraging entrepreneurship is good for the MENA region “It’s always good to enable people to do things that they want to do. And that’s what entrepreneurship is. It’s enabling people to find something they enjoy doing, and then finding a way to use that skill or that desire to do that particular activity to , and monetize that value. That’s what it is. So when you have a youth population and the demographics of the region, if you encourage these people to try to monetize what it is they can add value to, that’s a much better way to engage them as productive members of society, than anything else.”

On how established businesses in the MENA can actually support the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem “I think that corporates need to start realizing that if they are going to that would be just as good as the ones globally. That will drive those [local] businesses to be successful. So that’s what the ecosystem can do- it can provide these companies more opportunities to sell their products. If you are in a corporate, and you know the difference between a global and local player in terms of quality, then hire the local player and give them insights as a client. They will be so much more adaptable and malleable, and they’ll be happy to take any feedback on board and incorporate it. So they can get you to where you are happy, and they can [also] learn from your experiences with a global player. So if we want to really up the standards of the local players -if the corporates are saying they are not good enough- then that’s the way to do it, not to turn away from hiring them, but rather to hire them and take half an hour and tell them, this is what the global [players] do that’s better.”

On the need for startups to have a corporate culture in place “I think it’s never too early to start thinking about , which drives everything later. So if you want your corporate culture to be like everything is always done in a certain way, then you better do it that way from the start. Because you’re the one setting the example. People will do as you do, they won’t do as you say. So it’s really important that we think about how we would want our company to ultimately operate.”

On the contention that it’s easier for startups to find funding in Silicon Valley than in MENA “I don’t have any answer for that. Some people could argue it’s easier; some people could argue the entrepreneurs [there] are better. I’m not going to argue either way!”

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UAE-based telecommunications service provider, du demonstrated the new e-SIM for the first time in the Middle East. Working with Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, du demonstrated the e-SIM during a round table held at the Grand Midwest Hotel in Media City. The e-SIM will enable du subscribers to activate the e-SIM on any device over the air, allowing an enhanced user experience in a new era of technology adoption that supports multi-device usage, such as smartwatches, tablets, laptops, other wearable devices or even cars. This will also enable a streamlined journey across multiple touch points, allowing customers to switch between various devices.

Saleem AlBlooshi, Executive Vice President of Network Development and Operations at du, said “At du, to simplify and enhance the lives of our customers. Individual and enterprise customers increasingly rely on multiple devices for myriad reasons and they all expect the same seamless experience, no matter the device or when they use it. This is why we are proud to bring the e-SIM technology to the UAE for the first time and why we are working with major businesses to create tailor-made e-SIM solutions – to ensure we are providing best-in-class services for our valued customers.”

The company is also expecting a number of commercial launches this year by various consumer technology brands which will support e-SIM in the region. At MWC 2016, Gemalto demonstrated its GSMA-compliant On-Demand Connectivity solution, an end-to-end, interoperable solution which features an e-SIM managing subscription remotely. AlBlooshi added: “The recent demonstration of e-SIM adds further impetus to the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in establishing the UAE as a global leader in all aspects and as an innovator in technology in the Middle East region.” 

The e-SIM will also reduce costs and improve flexibility as well as efficiency. It is also said to will accelerate the growth of the IoT/M2M Industry by providing a single de facto standard for remote SIM provisioning. The collaboration intends to avoid market fragmentation and also for all stakeholders and to support development of a strong e-SIM ecosystem. According to researches the growth will come from connected IoT/M2M devices estimated to be 15 Billion devices by 2020 including Connected Healthcare Devices, Connected Automotive Devices, and Smart Cities Devices.

Commenting on the demonstration, Benoit Jouffrey, Vice President of On-Demand Connectivity solutions at Gemalto said: “We are thrilled to work with du on e-SIM technology to create a powerful platform which will provide tangible benefits for du’s customers. The On Demand Connectivity solution combined with the e-SIM will dramatically increase business opportunities across IoT verticals such as automotive or consumer electronics that rely on seamless connectivity.”

This article was originally published on  and has been reposted on Entrepreneur Middle East based on a mutual agreement between the websites.

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Women Rights of the Middle East “Life is full of unhappiness and most of it caused by women (Harik and Marston 11)”. For women in the Middle East life is faced with great and unequal odds, as their human rights are limited, due to Islamic beliefs and that of patriarchy. From their daily actions at home to their physical appearance, Middle Eastern women are portrayed as quiet, faceless women veiled from head to toe. While this image is just another stereotype, women in the middle do face many obstacles and challenges of creating their own identity as they are frequently denied a voice in their rights.

Living in a society dominated by men life is not, but regardless women in the Middle East, predominantly Muslims, continue to fight for change as they balance their traditional roles with those of modern society. In the Middle East a person’s religion is a way of life, the basis of their identity. It defines a person’s beliefs and morality as it sets strong guidelines for behaviors between both men and women. Without Religion, it is said society would “fall apart” forgetting about their God and responsibilities that carry their honor.

For many religious Middle easterners their faith gives them a powerful sense of who they are. While many feel this powerful sense of support others feel a religion’s rules or morals can also restrict a person’s freedom. This burden tends to fall on women in the Middle East where most religions are developed and led by men (Harik and Marston 53). Followers know as Muslims practice what is known as Islam, the religion of many Middle Easterners. This practice began in the seventh century A. D from the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (Harik and Marston 54).

In the beliefs of Islam it is said that there is only one god and His messenger is Mohammed. The basic practices required by Muslim’s are called the five pillars, in which Mohammed’s revolutionary teachings express that all people are equal in God’s eyes. This meaning that men and women of all classes should share the same spiritual rewards as well as sacrifices. Not only are Muslims expected to live pure and modest lives but they are also to serve God by working for social justice. This is something that

Muslims don’t abide by as women rights as still to this day faced with great injustice (55). Men seem to hold absolute power leaving women with few, if any rights. This leaves women feeling unvalued and treated as little more than piece of property. In Mohammed’s revolutionary teaching women are also to be protected and treated equally by men yet in many countries of the Middle East they do not (58). For women marriage is a great arrangement as in order to marry someone a male guardian has to grant approval.

The minimum age for a girl to get married is seventeen but judges can also marry a minor girl with consent of her father. Muslim women may not marry a non-Muslim but for a male its ok to (Afary). Besides some of the issues women may face in their her relationship, there are other is handling your classes Middle Eastern / Muslim women faces. For instance women in traditional lands such as Saudi Arabia are to remain strictly obedient to men (Harik and Marston 59). Under the Taliban women have to wear a burka giving them restrictive head to toe covering.

As appose to that of a lighter veil in which is more common in urban centers. The enforcements of these laws are usually done by religious police and the ministry. If women are to go against these actions then women are severely beaten for showing their wrist, hands, or ankles. They are also tormented for begging in the streets as they are left with nothing but their own will (Afary). Many inequalities still do exist within the Muslim society. In Muslim societies such as Kuwait, women face issues with their right to vote and their right to run for political office.

Under the reading of Islam it is interpreted by Kuwait’s that women are forbidden to hold a position of authority, but this interpretation makes no senses as under Islam it really states people are all equal (Korman 94). Other Kuwait’s believe that women are voting through their father or husband who cast a vote for the entire family not leaving a women’s voice unheard (95). Two great issues for women as we can see have been the right to vote and the right to run for political office.

This was acted on in the year 1999 by Sheik Jaber III, past ruler of Kuwait, who issued a royal decree granting women the right to vote. Unfortunately, on November of 1999, the National Assembly voted down the measure, due to time, claiming it was not right to grant those rights for Kuwaiti women yet (Korman 94). Yet inequalities may not be the case for women in more westernized nations as they receive greater freedom (60). This is where the great diversity between modernist Muslim’s and conservative Muslim’s come in.

Modernist Muslims argue genuine Islam is compatible with modern west society and political ideas such as democracy and the equality of women. The views of women in society are supported by revelations of the prophet Mohammed. On the other hand we have conservative Muslims where they believe in following their traditional ways and those rules set out by the patriarchal society based on strictly Islamic ideas (61). For most Middle East largely traditional and more prevalent among educated and progressive Muslims there is a strong movement called Fundamentalism.

In Kuwait, conservative Muslim women wrestle with other groups that find ways to reconcile modern practices with Islamic tradition. This struggle has heated up in the last years since the Gulf War, as it reflects the intense debate regarding women’s rights (Korman 94). To Westerners, Middle Eastern women are what the media has always chosen to reflect on dressed in black veils, subordinate to the men of their families and oppressed by their societies and state alike. It is rare that the diversity in the Middle East is shown, let alone when it pertains to women .

As with everything else in the Middle East, the situation is full of conflicting images. Though Kuwait is situated in the most conservative part of the Muslim world, Kuwaiti women drive, are allowed to travel alone, and enjoy a central role in their own families. Yet this does not seem to be new or controversial to the conservative Kuwaiti society (Afary). In the year 2000 women have been able to vote in almost every country except in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Women in Kuwait have were promised the vote, but lost their right in a 199 Parliament vote on the issue.

Kuwait lacks an organized women’s rights movement but they have been working to uphold a committee that has not yet resumed full activities since the Gulf War. Women’s social cultural society- committees dealing with cultural affairs, social activities, while statistical studies on women have shown cases of Kuwaiti women married to non- Kuwait’s receive (Country reports on human rights practices for 1993). Middle Eastern women have become politically active in recent years. During the Gulf War in which, women’s groups protested against the Iraqi occupation.

They protested on government policy’s buy constant marches on the National Assembly pressuring them to reform the right for them to vote (Korman 95). Many women fear they won’t be able to run for political office, a compromise, decided upon by members of parliament. Thankfully the Women Affair committee and Union of women societies have given women a voice in political affairs. From inequalities to great mile stones made, has come long ways for Middle Eastern women and Muslim women. Over the years women have gone from being treated as a piece of property to being treated as actual human beings, equal to men.

Although many improvements have been made in the way Middle Easterners see a Muslim women’s role in society, there continues to be discrimination towards women in the modern and traditional Islamic society. Regardless of the battles these women may face, Middle Eastern women to this day continue to fight for their rights in hope that one day their traditional roles will balance out with modern society. For now Middle Eastern women will struggle in order to succeed for their future rights and for those of future women.

Jacinta Lisauskaite HIST 112 Paper 1: Blood Brothers 4 February, 2013 1. Elias Chacour was born in 1939. In 1948, Israeli authorities made Chacour and his entire village to become refugees. He was a priest of St. George Melkite Catholic Church in Ibillin for forty-one years building the bridges for the peace between people. He is following his call to be a peacemaker through the means of educating children, youth and young adults from all religions, so they can regain dignity as people and accept each other’s differences.

Since 2006, Chacour is an archbishop who oversees Melkites Catholic Church in Akko, Haifa, Nazareth, and all Galilee. He has been nominated for Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, 1989, and 1994. Other significant organizations have recognized Chacour’s work towards peace. He wrote two books – Blood Brothers (written in 1984 and updated in 2002) and We Belong to the Land (1990). 1 2. There were several sections in the book which helped me to better understand Palestinian-Israeli conflict. After telling the story how the village of Biram was exiled, Chacour describes what was happening in political arena at that time.

British government controlled the Palestine and the Zionist wanted their own unlimited control of it. Britain could not stop the Zionist because it was in bankrupt which was the consequence of WWII. Zionist took over the factories that produced ammunition for war. The compromise administered by U. N. robbed Palestinians of their lands, their homes, the peaceful lives they knew and their way of making the living. These were very unfair and unjust moves toppled by the “cleansing” performed by Zionist. I see all the rights for Palestinians to be angry with Zionist and fight against them.

Later, in the beginning of chapter eight, Chacour gives a two perspectives regarding what was happening after WWII in Palestine – one perspective as the world knew it and another perspective as it was really true. Palestine was represented as an uninhabited land for Jewish people to get rest and that surrounding Arab countries were angry, thus Israeli had to fight the War of Independence in 1948. In Switzerland, in the year of 1897, the writer Theodor Herzl fathered Zionism that sought to help disadvantages and oppressed Jews. The group of people decided for the flag, symbols, etc. f the new Jewish settlement but was split regarding location. Herzl was a strong proponent to set the location in Palestine. They knew that this country had borders, established governance and generations from ancient times that were living there. Chacour says that religious Jews thought of Zionism as blasphemy and they said that for elite and non-religious Jews “Zionism was the only Messiah Israel would ever have”. For earthly minds the way to salvation seems to be though military involvement – oppressed Jews in 1st century expected Messiah to be a military leader to free Jews from Rome’s oppression.

Chacour continues to explain how Zionism joined Restorationist who believed that by reestablishing nation of Israel they might bring the second coming of Christ. Zionist did not want to share any equality with the people who lived in the Palestine and wanted to make Palestine predominantly Jewish. Oppressed people sought to regain peace through the same means of oppression. Chacour explains how Zionist gained positive attitude from the Western world: West felt bad for hatred of Jews propagated by Hitler and were so focus on what was happening in Nazi government that did not pay attention to Middle East.

Also, he helped me to understand that the immigrants who came to Israeli did not know much and were told that Palestinians were enemies. The reason Palestinian were seen as terrorists was because of Zionist propaganda. It was shocking to see that Zionist by this propaganda, working on world’s sympathy for their pity, raised money and were very aggressive about their plan. President Roosevelt wanted to offer Jewish people a free way to go and live in any nation of the world but Zionist were aggressively against it – their plan for them seems to be “the only hope for survival”.

Survivors of holocaust were never given an opportunity to pick where they live; majority of them had to go to live in new nation of Israel. I was so surprised that Zionist even created persecution of Jews in other countries in order to threaten the Jews so that they would come to Israel. Haganah succeeded in threatening people by dropping bombs and forcing emigration. By all means possible, they wanted to bring their plan to pass which was to gather all the Jews in one place. The true was that some Jews probably did not want to leave the countries they were in because it was their home.

As I was reading, I found myself disguised about the perversion of these proud and ignorant men who thought they were doing the right thing. The depths of human sin can truly be seen in politics. Chacour calls the Zionist and their actions as murder, lying, “the disease of the spirit”, the demons of violence and of Militarism. Another aspect of this conflict was the growing new generation of people who attended poor schools, had little hope for the future and lived among the adult people who were losing dignity as citizens in the world. If the young generation would not be taken care of, the more conflict could arise in the future.

Chacour recognized this and targeted this population to build bridges to peace. 3. The idea of Zionism began in late 19th century and the main proponent was writer Theodor Herzl. Many things happened (like WWII, Zionist cooperation with Restorationists, UN decision, etc. ) that let Jewish survivor of Holocaust to come back to Israel, pick up the military arsenal and create their own country, with freedom, right to defend themselves, right to cherish their culture and have pride over it. Zionist made Palestinian to be their enemies by applying harsh and unjust rule and extreme oppression.

Zionism can be compared to racism, especially with the rule of Prime Minister Sharon who is really discriminating Palestinians. “Its policies include the confiscation of land; the demolition of houses; the uprooting of trees; curfews, roadblocks and 736 checkpoints that inflict horrendous hardships; the systematic abuse of Palestinian human rights; and the building of the illegal wall on the West Bank, a wall that is as much about land-grabbing as it is about security. ” The Israel was supposed to be a good and safe place for people to come back and find rest, but it became most unsafe place. 2

In Blood Brothers, Zionism played the major role. Chacour and his country’s life were completely transformed by the Jewish soldiers who came rushing in and with the violence and oppression made Palestinians to be their enemies. Chacour received his life calling to be a peacemaker or the ambassador of reconciliation between all the different people in the region, since the past years of Israeli rule and violent response from some Palestinian groups have brought a lot of despair, hatred, and misunderstandings. 4. I found many old articles from 2003 and 2004 that were reporting the debates and intentions about building the security fence.

The wise cement wall or an electric metal fence snakes through Israel’s territory for 450km separating Palestinian communities from other lands in Israel. At some points, the wall includes illegal Israeli settlement excluding rightful Palestinian territories. The wall is still being built (it is 10th year of doing it) and majority of it (85%) will be built inside the West Bank and annex additional 530 square kilometers. The people in Palestinian communities are very unhappy. They feel that Israel government wants to make their lives hard and make them suffer in order to leave the country.

In order to pass the wall Palestinians need to obtain permit and they feel they do not have any rights to their own country. Fence was built to reduce violence among Jews and Palestinians, but it will become permanent border for political reasons. The wall destroyed the business ties and it cut of the resources needed for the land and development. UN report said that “”Free movement and access, as well as the ability to plan and develop communities, are vital to sustain livelihoods, reduce dependence on humanitarian assistance, and economic recovery. The wall also changed the culture of Palestinian people. They are not able to connect with their relatives on the other side of wall and the social life has declines because of isolated communities. Al Ram is the city close around the inside of wall close to Jerusalem where many people moved in – there are things like drug dealing and prostitution. 3 5. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in 1964. Their aim is to remove Israel government and restore Palestinian government. After violent and military fights with Israel, it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism because of UN.

UN recognizes PLO as legitimate representative of Palestinian people and it holds observer status in UN. 4 Palestinian authority is a administrative organization that governs some territories in Israel (like West Bank) and representative of Palestine people in UN. 2012 it was given an observer status to which Israeli and Unites States protested. Their president is Mahmoud Abbas. 5 HAMAS – it was established as an alternative to the PLO. They seek to build Islamic Sunni Palestinian state operating under sharia law on the land of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

They are oriented towards using extreme violent means to achieve their goals. Some of their specific goals are to bring back Palestinains to their homes, to free the war prisoners and to destroy Israeli authority. 6 Hezobollah is a Shiite military, political and social organization which is strong in its political and military power. It is located in Lebanon and have strong ties to Iran and Syria. United States associate Hamas with Iran nuclear program and says that it is sponsored by Iran; also, it associates this organization with the support of Syria’s president and helping to diminish opposition. 7

Gaza is the city in Israel. The Green Line attributed Gaza to the Palestinians since they needed an access to the sea. Gaza experienced much turmoil as powers were fighting for the government of it and right now is under the rule of HAMAS control. 8 West Bank is the territory which by Green Line was to belong to Palestinians. Right now the security fence has come to divide West Bank, separating Palestinian communities. It is the large part of the land in North Eastern Israeli-Palestinian territory, in the boundaries of ancient Galilee. 8 Israeli Settlements in the West Bank were established illegally.

The Jewish Zionist came back and established settlements on the hilltops since it is presumably their birthrights. Palestinians feel that Green Line should be observed and feel like Israeli did not recognize Palestinian territories in worst place. 8 Green Line was drawn in 1949 after Arab-Israeli war. It was named because the pen color on the map was green. 1967 Israel occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza that were supposed to be Palestinian territory. 9 6. There are no clear indications that the connection between Israeli-Palestinian conflict and 9/11 attacks exist. Some news portals tried o speculate about Palestinians support of bin Laden and their disapproval of his murder. 10 However, this new portal also acknowledged that some Palestinians were on Americans side. Al Jazeera 11 provides the recording of bin Laden messages in which he supports Palestinian cause. Bin Laden told that Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the heart of Muslim battle with the West and that if U. S. Does not change their policy, more attacks will result; he even called Palestine as “our land”. From what I learned in class, Al-Qaeda was not really related with what was happening in Israel.

It is clear that these “messages” from bin Laden are corrupted and biased. It is apparent that this is Israeli propaganda to make world think of Palestinians as the biggest enemies. There is no seeming strong connection attached to Israeli-Palestinian and the U. S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some articles alluded about the terrorist in Palestine. I learned in class that war in Afghanistan was associated with Taliban political movement and the war in Iraq was associated with Al-Queue terrorist network. 7. The clear reason why material like this is not widely known in the USA is media distortions and the lack of education.

I saw numerous times the news regarding Middle East. There were so many names and so much different stuff happening that if I wanted to understand what is going on, I should have spent days upon days spending hours trying to learn the history of the past and the connection in the present. I think media should be more educational and use simpler, more direct words to describe what is what. Most of Americans live self-centered, very busy lives, working a lot, trying to be comfortable, distract themselves from troubles of their lives through entertainment and have fun time, and do numerous other things that the society expects them to do.

There is no time or brain capacity left for the most people to be concern about the Middle East. Brains are very limited to how much information it can take in and it also needs good education so it can sort out the incoming information and understand it accurately. In my country, Lithuania, people talk about politics and what is going on in the different countries of the world around dinner tables, at work and in streets. It is because they are small country and need to be aware of all what’s happening in the world. They also have more of a community spirit and live more laid-back lives.

America is a very big country and its inhabitants tend to think that it is the most powerful and very self-sufficient country that results in people not caring. How can people care about what’s going on the next part of the world if they do not care about their neighbor? And many people don’t because the weight of the life and selfishness blinds people to the problems of others. If people live in competition, striving hard to survive in this world, they need to push others aside and have enemies to shift the blame for the problems and to feel better about themselves.

This society is also very alienated from each other. Another reason why people might not care is because they see Muslims and all the region of Middle East as if they all hate Americans, are terrorists and uncivilized people with degraded culture. Rarely we see on the news the good things about the Middle East – how their children play and go to school, how people perform arts, how intellectual life and deep seated culture flourish. It is not widely known in the Christian community because Christians in USA grew up to be citizens of this country.

The ways of living life for many people do not get changed after they become Christian, as statistics show. People struggle to live out the citizenship they have in heaven. Also, they are subject to media distortions and to the strong pressure from the society to adapt to its views. When bin Laden was killed, so many people rejoiced, even seemingly serious Christians. God the only one who can bring life and death and there was no reason for Christian to rejoice. There is another reason that answers this question and I was convicted about it for the last week. It is not just my sin, but the sin of many other Christians I know.

I realized that I am very self-centered and I expect God to act in my life as long as it is about me and those around me. I do not make Him a big God – even reading the articles for the paper I was so annoyed by having to do it. I and other Christians I know need to realize that life is not about us, but it’s all about Christ and He loves everyone in the world and wants us to understand the situations and be the ambassadors of reconciliation in all the possible areas. Summarizing, I think that he main problems are not accurate information, media distortion, lack of education and minds that are ot renewed by God’s wisdom. 8. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very neat to read about the people and the land that Jesus lived in. Also, it was interesting to understand the lives and the faith of Christian Palestinians. It was very encouraging to see how Chacour story develops and how faithful God was in his life, and how eagerly Chacour devoted all his life to God’s purposes. Chacour and his life encouraged me to become more aware of what’s going on in the world and realize the responsibly God has placed for me and other Christians.

This book several times caused me to be overjoyed to the point of tears. Also, my understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict changed as a result of reading this book. I grew up thinking that Palestinians were terrorists. News in Lithuania and in United States, and even my school textbook, taught me to immediately associate Palestinians with extremism and terrorism. This book made me to rethink of how crucial non-violent resistance is and that it is very important to educate the younger generation regarding a better, more peaceful, loving and accurate way to see their neighbors. I also realized that this conflict is very difficult and how United States can be so influential in the region.

Bibliography

1. “Abuna Elias Chacour. ” Pilgrims of Ibillin,
2. Ben-Ami, Shlomo. “A debate : Is Zionism today the real enemy of the Jews? ” The New York Times,
3. Kestler-DAmours, Jillian. “Israeli wall isolates Palestinian communities. ” Al Jezeera,
4. “The Panorama Middle East Archives: Rise of the PLO”. BBC
5. “The Palestinian Authority. ” The New York Times
6. Erlanger, Steven. “Leader Celebrates Founding of Hamas With Defiant Speech. The New York Times
7. “Hezbollah. ” The New York Times
8. “Challenges in Defining an Israeli-Palestinian Border. ” The New York Times

Known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qa?ar, is an Arab emirate, in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf. A strait of the Gulf separates Qatar from the nearby island state of Bahrain. Qatar has been ruled as an absolute monarchy by the al-Thani family since the mid-19th century.

Formerly a British protectorate noted mainly for pearling, it became independent in 1971, and has become one of the region’s wealthiest states due to its enormous oil and natural gas revenues. In 1995, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani became Emir when he seized power from his father, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, in a peaceful coup d’etat. [7] The most important positions in Qatar are held by the members of the al-Thani family, or close confidants of the al- Thani family. Beginning in 1992, Qatar has built intimate military ties with the United States, and is now the location of U.

S. Central Command’s Forward Headquarters and the Combined Air Operations Center. Qatar has the world’s largest per capita production and proven reserves of both oil and natural gas. In 2010, Qatar had the world’s highest GDP per capita, while the economy grew by 19. 40%, the fastest in the world. The main drivers for this rapid growth are attributed to ongoing increases in production and exports of liquefied natural gas, oil, petrochemicals and related industries. Qatar has the highest human development in the Arab World after the United Arab Emirates.

In 2009, Qatar was the United States’ fifth largest export market in the Middle East, trailing behind the U. A. E. , Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. With a small citizen population of less than 300,000 people, Qatar relies heavily on foreign citizens, both for its protection and generating labor demand. Qatar has attracted an estimated $100 billion in investment, with approximately $60–70 billion coming from the U. S in the energy sector. It is estimated that Qatar will invest over $120 billion in the energy sector in the next ten years

The Middle East conflict that exists between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews began comparatively not so long ago, in particular at the beginning of the 20th century. This is true that these two nations have different religions; however, their religious differences are not the main cause of the conflict. For the most part their conflict is a struggle over land. To understand the origin of the struggle one should recall in what way Jewish people established their state.

By 1929, 156,000 Jewish settlers resided in Palestine. About 4 percent of Palestine land was in the ownership of these settlers but this small amount of land comprised near 14 percent of all agricultural land. The way these lands were acquired by Jews brought about much controversy and dispute. Absentee landlords owned the land of many villages where Palestinians had lived, worked, and died. Zionists then purchased the villages from the absentee landlords and evicted the inhabitants. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli)

The violence and military actions that increased more and more together with the failure to conciliate Arab and Jewish peoples urged the world community to pull apart these belligerent powers. Thus in 1947 the UN General Assembly ratified the 1947 UN Partition Plan according to which the territory was divided into two states, Jewish and Arab. However, it did not bring expected peace to the area. Immediately following the adoption of the Partition Plan the Arab leadership rejected the plan. The basic reason for rejection was that two parts of the divided territory were equal. On this background almost a year later only one state was proclaimed and it was Israel.

After the war of 1948-49, the territory known before as Palestine was split into three parts, the proclaimed state of Israel, the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip.

The establishment of Jewish state on the Palestinian territory was historically and religiously grounded. Jewish people asserted that this land belonged to them by the biblical promise to Abraham and his descendants, and also they pointed to the fact that this was the historical site of the Jewish kingdom of Israel.

Palestinian Arabs’ in their turn maintain that land belonged to them as they lived there for centuries and they represented the demographic majority. What concerns the biblical explanation for Jewish land claim Arabs also state that while Ishmael, who was Abraham’s son, is the forefather of the Arabs, then the land promised by God to the children of Abraham must belong to Arabs as well. Thus, from the point of view of religion and history the position of Palestinian and Jews in regard to the land may be considered as equitable. However, as it was mentioned above the core of the conflict is the land possession and Palestinians rejected the equal land division.

The surrounding Arab states supported the Palestinian Arabs in rejecting both the Partition Plan and the establishment of Israel, and the armies of six Arab nations attacked the newly formed State of Israel. The world has divided into the states that support Israel in its war with Palestine and the states which supported Palestine. Thus the local conflict turned into the global problem.

This confrontation lasts up till now and influences the variety of fields in international relations. However, we observe here this conflict only in two aspects. That is its consequences in the context of struggle for energy carriers and in the context of dividing the world into two “camps”.

As it is known the majority of world energy carriers, in particular oil, are controlled by Arab countries. These countries tried to use this factor as the impact factor on the countries that supported Israel in the military confrontation. Thus, in October, 1973, the Arab oil-producing states imposed production restraints and an embargo–their second such attempt. They did so allegedly as a punishment for those countries that supported Israel in the Middle East war earlier that month. Their first effort at embargo occurred in 1967, following the lightning Israeli victory in the June Six-Day War. That episode is not well-known because it was a total failure. However, global oil market conditions would change substantially in subsequent years. (USA Today, 16+)

The second consequence of this conflict was the division of the world into two camps. So, as it is known, Muslims of the world supported Palestine, the USA and some of European countries supported Israel. The implications of this conflict are also burdened by the fact that this division was not simply between different views this was the division of cultures and religions. Some extremists are trying hard to present this conflict as a conflict between Muslim and Christian worlds. We cannot of course assert that the opposition between Jews and Palestinians is the cause of world confrontation; nevertheless, it remains the constant irritant and booster for new conflicts.

To conclude with, I suppose that the development of confrontation between Israel and Palestine could have been avoided. Since the reason of the conflict was the land division when the state of Israel was proclaimed, I think that one could not have established the state of Israel having been governed only by the simple principle of equal land division. This principle satisfied Israel but it was unsatisfactory for the Palestinians. In the given situation the world community chose the easier way without showing willingness to find out the essence of disagreement. The principle 50/50 proved to be fallacious. This confrontation should be a lesson for the world community that only through considering the interests of all parties we may reach the peace.