A (Very) Brief History of the Middle East Part 10

Today is a celebration, this series is officially double the length that I had anticipated. If this series were a movie, and the length of it was my budget, I think A (Very) Brief History of the Middle East would be Waterworld. The (Very) part has become a little ludicrous. Even the Brief is becoming increasingly nonsensical. But I will press on faithful readers (anyone?), and will pick up where I leave off day after day (to infinity and beyond). Wish me luck.

Pakistan: The nation of Pakistan wasn’t officially formed until 1947, but the history of how this came to fruition dates back much further. Originally a part of India, the country started to split in the 1930s when the Muslim League rose to popularity. The Indian government, engaged in an unarmed struggle with Britain for independence, was Hindu dominated and there were concerns amongst Muslims concerning under-representation.

In 1947 two Muslim majority regions in eastern and northwest British India separated from the country. This led to riots across India and the newly formed Pakistan, and resulted in millions of Muslims immigrating to Pakistan and millions of Hindus immigrating to India.

Disputes arose over several territories, most notably Kashmir, a former princely state which had acceded to India years prior, despite the fact that the majority of the Kashmir population favored independence. The First Kashmir War in 1948 resulted in Pakistan occupying one-third of the state, with India occupying the rest.

In 1956 Pakistan declared itself a republic, but this was stalled by a coup by Ayub Khan, who ruled as “president” from 1958-69. His presidency saw intense instability and violence, including a second war with India, a civil war between East and West Pakistan (The Bangladesh War of Independence) which eventually led East Pakistan to become the independent nation of Bangladesh, and a third war with India.

In 1972 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over, and the country was once again under civilian rule. This lasted until 1977 when Ali Bhutto was overthrown by General Zia-Ul-Haq, the country’s third military president. Zia replaced Pakistan’s civil law with strict Islamic law. When he died in a plane crash in 1988 Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar, became the first female prime minister.

In the years since the economic and political situation in Pakistan has seen its ups and downs. The country participated in the US coalition during the Gulf War, and current leader Pervez Musharraf holds a shaky alliance with the US, aiding in the fight against Taliban while facing accusations that he lets terrorist cross freely over the border.

Palestine: As with Israel, the recorded history of Palestine dates back to ancient Biblical texts (at the time it was known as Canaan) and it would be impossible for me to explain the entire thing. As with the rest of the Middle East, the nation fell under Ottoman Rule for most of the last several hundred years. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of WWI it was decided that the area would become an international zone not under direct British or French control. Plans changed when persecuted Jews began immigrating. The British government established a mandate over Palestine (lasting from 1920-47) and laid plans for a Jewish homeland to be established in Palestine.

In 1947, following WWII, the British deemed it necessary to terminate their mandate on Palestine due to intensified attacks by Palestinians on British troops, a shift in world opinion regarding Britain’s position in Palestine (they had a policy of preventing Jewish Holocaust survivors from entering the country, sending them instead to refugee camps in Cyprus or, in some instances, back to Germany), and the enormous cost of maintaining a force in the country. When the mandate was terminated control was passed to the UN.

In 1947 the UN General Assembly passed the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, hoping to end the Arab-Jewish conflict. I have already covered much of the rest in the Israel post (see A (Very) Brief History of the Middle East Part 7).

One thing that I neglected to mention is that following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War an Armistice Agreement was signed between Israel and its neighboring Arab states which eliminated Palestine as a distinct territory. The lands were divided between Egypt, Syria and Jordan. It’s understandable that they’re pissed.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964 by the Arab League with the purpose of reestablishing Palestine as a legitimate country, but so far has been largely unsuccessful. In 1988 they issued a proclamation of a State of Palestine, loosely defined by borders established by various UN Resolutions, but this proclamation was for the most part ignored.

The CIA World Factbook states that of ten million people living between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, 49% are Palestinian. One million of them are citizens of Israel, the other four million are stateless, residing on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, living under Palestinian National Authority jurisdiction, but subject to conditions imposed by Israel.

Imagine if large groups of Latin Americans started immigrating to the US (wait a minute…), established a separate state on US soil, annexed most of the country, and went on to declare that the United States no longer existed. Would you be more than a little annoyed? Yeah, me too.


Good work today, people. Believe me when I say we’re almost there. Just a couple more countries and I’ll wrap this thing up.

Thanks for reading.