Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accord, an agreement not to go to war again. To the east of the central range is the fertile Bekaa Valley, which plays a vital role in the country’s agriculture. When the Europeans established colonial boundaries, they ignored the existing ethnic or cultural divisions. There are few jobs and no real methods of gaining wealth. The largest city and the center of industrial activity is Aleppo, which lies in the north of Syria. Why were there massive protests and demonstrations in Syria in 2011? The 1967 war was short lived, lasting only about a week. Identify the following key places on a map: Central Intelligence Agency, “The World Factbook,” https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook. When Palestine was divided by the UN to create the State of Israel, the region of Jordan received more than a million Palestinian refugees from the West Bank and Israel. In 1982, Israel attacked PLO strongholds, which were operating out of Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley and West Beirut. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, “Palestine Refugees,” http://www.unrwa.org/etemplate.php?id=86. The king allowed municipal elections to be conducted, which allowed for 20 percent of the positions to be dedicated to women candidates. Add the dynamic cultural conditions to Lebanon’s attractive physical features—the beautiful Mediterranean coast, the attractive interior mountains, and the cosmopolitan city of Beirut—and it is easy to see why Lebanon is such a fascinating geographic study. The government of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. Figure 8.28 King ‘Abdullah II of Jordan Visits US President Barack Obama in the White House in 2011. Because of the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government demanded that the Taliban turn over bin Laden. The additional rainfall translates into extensive agricultural production. Syria returned to its own republic. The West Bank provides fresh water used on the Israeli side for agriculture and industrial processes. What countries make up the Transcaucasian Republics? After a few weeks of conflict, a peace treaty was agreed upon. Located in the middle of an upscale neighborhood in Beirut, this food shop is in a building that has not been fully repaired from damage resulting from the 1975 civil war. Before this time, the region was called Palestine and the people who lived there were called Palestinians. Because oil production has not been increasing, the government has been forced to take on additional national debt. The UN rejected Israel’s claim on greater Jerusalem, and few if any countries have accepted it. Israel responds by indicating that the two-state solution is indefensible because the Jewish settlements in the West Bank cannot be protected if the West Bank is separated from Israel. Independence was granted by the French in 1943. Lebanon was experiencing a full-scale civil war by 1975 that continued until 1990, when the Syrian military brokered a peace deal. The Dead Sea is 1,300 feet below sea level, so it has no outlet. 3. The heavy coat of fighting, as well as growing opposition at home to the war, prompted the Portuguese to withdraw form Angola in 1975. Some Islamic groups have accepted Israel’s status as a country and others have not. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia make up the Transcaucasian. It is legitimately recognized by the UN to represent the area known as Palestine in political matters. Family size is much larger in the Palestinian side, so it would be only a matter of time before the Jewish population would be a minority population and would not have full political control with a democratic government. 3. Unemployment rates averaged about 40 percent in the Gaza Strip and over 20 percent in the West Bank (Central Intelligence Agency). Still, conflicts linger, and discord between Israel and Syria has violent results. The region went through a series of tumultuous transitions before it became the nation of Israel. By 1950 over 750,000 Palestinians living in the Jewish-controlled regions of Israel were forced out of their homes and into refugee camps. Masri, M., Nablus—West Bank 2011 (Paraphrased quote). What was so important about the Golan Heights? The British Mandate included Palestine and Transjordan, the area east of the Jordan River, which includes the current country of Jordan. In 1970, Biafra surrendered and Nigeria was reunited, but perhaps more than a million Igbo died, most from starvation. Syria has also been accused of supporting the anti-Israel groups headquartered in Lebanon. US involvement in the region has heightened tensions between Iran and Israel. Israel moved its capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to solidify its claim on the city even though most of the world’s embassies remain in Tel Aviv. Jewish people from various parts of the world continue to migrate to Israel, and the Israeli government continues to build housing settlements to accommodate them. There are various ways to approach this issue; a one-state solution and a two-state solution have been proposed. Parliamentary elections were held by a democratic vote. The entire city of Jerusalem came under Israeli control. Figure 8.30 Female Protesters in Douma, a Suburb of Damascus, in 2011. The US war in Iraq has complicated the situation but has not superseded it. The Palestinians argue that if they were to have their own nation-state, then the Jewish settlements would be in their country and would have to be either resettled or absorbed. After the Arabs lost the first war against the Jewish State of Israel, the Palestinians’ problems increased. Strategic geographical location is a point of contention in the region east of the UN as international. 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