THE MIDDLE EASTReligion &

Politics

Judaism, Christianity & Islam

Similarities Belief in one God (monotheism)

All 3 trace their roots to Abraham Palestine is the holy land Social Justice is key part of all 3 religions

Judaism Pentateuch / Torah

1st 5 books of the Old Testament Talmud – collected decisions of the rabbis Forgiveness of sins depends on one’s

willingness to repent and do good deeds Orthodox vs Reform Zionism – Jewish homeland Theodor Herzl: Der Judenstaat

West created after WWII to ensure a safe haven for Jews after the Holocaust (part a long history of anti-Semitism in Europe)

Christianity

Belief that Jesus was the son of God differentiates it from Judaism Jews do not believe he was the Messiah

prophesized in the Old Testament Tensions between Christians & the other

major religions Crusades –for 300 years, Christians tried to

wrest control of the holy land from the Muslims Brutal treatment of both Muslims & Jews Holy Warriors: Richard & Saladin

Inquisition– tortured Jews to get them to convert

Holocaust – Hitler’s determination to wipe out Jews

Islam 622 C.E. (common era) is Muslim year 1 Koran is the Holy book of Islam

Like other two, stresses the importance of social justice

Key tenet: unity of God (rejects the Trinity)

Muhammad received revelations from the Angel Gabriel Abraham, Jesus & Muhammad were prophets Jews & Christians are also “people of the

book”

Manji – “The Trouble with Islam”

Unlike Christianity,there has not been a Muslim reformation

Manji argues that Islam has actually regressed Women used to play a larger role in Muslim

society ijtihad –lost tradition of independent

thinking Unlike Judaism & Christianity, only in Islam is

literalism “mainstream” Islam needs to deal with treatment of

women & minorities (such as Jews)

Arab-Israeli conflict

European colonial domination began to ebb by the 20th century led to a rise of nationalism of Jews & Arabs

Palestine is the “twice promised land” Promised to both Arabs & Jews

Arabs refused to recognize Israel (which was created by European powers) & attacked

Israel won independence & 1967 war conquered West Bank & Gaza Strip

Egypt, Jordan & Turkey have decent relations now

For more on Palestine, go to http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/qpal/

Jewish & Arab Nationalism Dreyfus affair illustrated anti-Semitism in

France Jewish Nationalism was originally not about

religion, but ethnicity Balfour declaration – promised the creation of Jewish state

in Palestine

Arab Nationalism was also originally about self-determination, not religion Emir Faisal accepted the Balfour declaration, but

only paired with Arab independence, which was reneged upon by the British

“the fact that the leader of the Arab nationalist movement and the Zionist movement could reach an understanding is significant because it demonstrated that Jewish and Arab aspirations were not necessarily mutually exclusive.“ from http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/faisal_balfour.html

Israel –A Jewish State or a State made of Jews?

Parliamentary democracy Israeli Arabs can vote, but discrimination is getting

worse Palestinians in the West Bank & Gaza cannot vote

Likud (hard-line party) currently dominates Minor parties play an important role

Settlements & the Palestinian issue Undivided Jerusalem?

Al Aqsa incident Israel is a modern, mostly democratic country

Settling the Palestinian issue is most important for getting Israel’s economy back on track

Comparative Islam --Egypt dictatorship since Sadats 1981

assassination Stable only b/c of repression

Mubarak has never ended the state-of-emergency

Islamic fundamentalism is a major problem esp. since Egypt signed 1979 peace treaty with Israel

July 2000, Egypt’s High Constitutional Court ruled that judges must oversee elections

Go here for more info on Islam in the Middle East

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/islam_around_the_world/html/middle_east_sa.stm

Iran Sharia is foundation of Iranian law

Struggle between reformers & fundamentalists 1997 : Khatami (reformer) won elections, but

wasn’t able to get laws through Council of Guardians—religious leaders that

oversee the government 2004 : reformers boycotted elections after

hardliners blocked many of their candidates from running

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3514551.stm

Turkey Ataturk – westernized (secularized) Turkey

democratic, but some human rights issues Kurds Why was Turkey so opposed to US invasion of Iraq?

Recep Erdogan (Muslim “Justice & Devel Party”) won 2002 election http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3579467.stm 34% of the vote; got 363 of 550 seats, but has not

made any radical changes in the past, the military has often stepped in when

Turkey moved away from secularism

Saudi Arabia Saudi family dynasty

King Faud suffered a stroke in 1995, so Crown Prince Abdullah runs the show

Rigidly traditional political & social system Wahhabi interpretation of Islam (strict) Therefore, no need for a constitution Mistreatment of women & minorities

Dependence on oil revenues keeps its economy overly linked to oil prices “reverse oil crisis” in the 1980s caused a drop in

oil revenues by ½ Made huge profits during Iran-Iraq war Dependent on US for protection

ironically, US support for Saudi Arabia’s corrupt regime is one reason for Bin Laden’s anger at the US

Religion in the Middle East Jerusalem is holy to the three largest

monotheistic religions in the world: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Many of the holiest places of Christianity are found in present-day Israel. Christianity spread out towards Western Europe where the majority of Christians lived by the Middle Ages.

Islam flourished in the Middle East in the 800’s and Arabic became the official language of this region.

Except for the Crusades, the Middle East has been dominated by Muslims for almost 1400 years.

WWII: Jewish claims to the region, especially the land of Palestine; the creation of the State of Israel has brought religious tension to the region and the continuous fight over who rightfully owns the land.

Dominance over the region has shifted from one religious affiliation to another over the years, bringing battles both political and religious that continue to this day.

PERANAN AGAMA DALAM POLITIK DI TIMUR TENGAH-SYIAH DAN SUNNI-WAHABI-KEBIJAKAN DALAM DAN LUAR NEGERI

Basis Sosial Masyarakat Timur Tengah

Basis sosial masyarakat kawasan timur tengah dapat di identifikasi melalui pola budayanya yang dapat tercermin dari : 1. Tradisi kesukuan, 2. agama, 3. ke-arab-an, dan 4. nasionalisme.

Tradisi Kesukuan

Basis sosial masyarakat di Timur Tengah pada umumnya bertumpu pada kenyataan sebagai masyarakat kesukuan (Tribal Society) dan budayanya berpola kepada kesukuan. datang dan dibangun oleh suku-suku pengembara (Nomadic Tribe).

Karakteristik : mobil dan agresif, sikap alami adalah kegelisahan, ekonomi berpusat kepada peternakan dan bercocok tanam kecil-kecilan, keberagamaan yang shaleh dan puritan, melahirkan corak perfeksionisme regilius dan moral.

Penemuan dan penambangan ladang-ladang minyak warga pribumi merangkak sejahtera dan mengalami transformasi modern dari kehidupan tradisional menuju formalitas modern lebih maju

Masih terciptanya hubungan Patron Client antara penguasa dengan beberapa suku

Tradisi Keagamaan

• Kawasan timur tengah merupakan kawasan yang memeluk agama samawi

• Hampir 90 % negara-negara di Timur Tengah memeluk agama islam, masih ada kesadaran terhadap nilai-nilai islam yang terefleksi kepada sistem dan konstitusi negara, sedangkan 10% merupakan pemeluk nasrani

• Pemikiran islam yng terbagi kepada pemikiran Sunni, Syiah, wahabi, dll

Perbedaan paham

• Perbedaan paham antara sunni, syiah dan wahabianisme tetap mengakar kepada garis sejarah dan perkembangan masyarakat arab, walaupun secara gradual mereka tetap memiliki kesadaran secara kolektif sebagai bangsa dan kesetiaan pada negara.

• Perbedaan paham ini bisa diamati pada ke-khasan cara hidup yang di anut , pandangan hidup dan tata nilai yang diikuti secara hirarki kekuasaan intern yang ditaati : nampak pada sistem kepercayaan dan ritual masing –masing paham atau mazhab tadi

• Perbedaan paham akan semakin dipertajam, bila masing-masing kelompok menggalakkan dan mengintensifkan perbedaan-perbedaannya yang dapat melahirkan konflik yang tajam.

• Lahirnya sekterian-sekterian internal mazhab, perkawinan endogami dalam satu sekte yang semua digunakan untuk melestarikan tradisi dan subkultur aliran keagamaannya masing-masing.

• Lahirnya rezim-rezim yang berangkat dari kekuasaan mazhab kepada wilayah-wilayah mereka

Nasionalisme Arab

• Dalam hal ini nasionalisme arab dapat dikatakan sebagai kategori kesatuan masyarakat –bangsa yang dikatakan oleh Hans Kohn (the idea of nationalism) dalam bentuk State of mind and act of conciousness atau adanya kesadaran kepada seluruh organ masyarakat yang pluralistik untuk kemudian bisa bersatu padu saling menjalin persatuan dan kesatuan untuk mencapai tujuan bersama.

Intrumen yang digunakan adalah negara dan kemudian melembagakan bangsa.

Secara sederhana, nasionalisme arab merupakan reaksi dari sekurang-kurangnya dua hal;

1. Tantangan penjajahan Barat terhadap tanah Arab,2. tantangan Zionisme Yahudi.

Hal diatas memunculkan nasionalisme arab dimulai dari usaha-usaha dari yang moderat, seperti menyatukan visi dan wawasan politik, ekonomi dan kebudayaan mengatasi batas-batas negara dan kebangsaan yang sempit sampai pada ekstrimisits yitu berupa peleburan negara menjadi 1 negara. - pan arabisme oleh Gamal Abdul Nasser yang ingin membentuk Republik Persatuan Arab (1956-1958)

Saham orang Arab yang beragama Kristen sangat menonjol dalam mempopulerkan Nasionalisme Arab kepada masyarakat banyak. Ini adalah upaya untuk mengesampingkan Islam sebagai factor dominan dalam perpolitikan Arab dan menggantikannya dengan nasionalisme.

Misalnya yang dilakukan oleh Partai Baath di Irak dan Syiria. filsafat ideologinya dibentuk oleh Michel Aflak, seorang yang berpendidikan guru dari kalangan Kristen Ortodok. Yang ditekankan oleh Aflak adalah kearaban yang telah dan selalu ada sepanjang sejarah, bukan keislaman yang datang kemudian.

Mengilhami peristiwa – peristiwa : tumbangnya kerajaan irak (1958), Kudeta di sudan (1959), revolusi di Yaman utara (1962), kudeta di syria (1963), kudeta di lybia (1969).