Self-Determination in the Middle East
Yosef Gotlieb
Praeger
The great expanse of territory extending from the westernmost reaches of northern Africa to lands east of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, from Asia Minor to the deepest Sudan, encompasses those countries presently under Arab rule, that is, the "Arab world." These stretches of land straddle the African and Asian continents and vary from desert wilderness to snow-covered mountains.
Ethnically, the "Arab world" is a highly heterogeneous region. Multitudes of Kurds populate the Middle East's northern tier along with Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Baluch, Persians, Turcomans, and other Turks. Arabs and Jews, Armenians and Assyrians, Druze and self-described "Phoenecians" inhabit Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan. While the Arabian Peninsula is correctly described as a "sea of Arab-dom," Dhofaris, Persians, and other …
Yosef Gotlieb is a writer, lecturer, and editor specializing in Middle East and Third World affairs.
The author's work has appeared in such periodicals as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and In These Times. His chapter, "Sectarianism and the Iraqi State," appears in Michael Curtis's (ed.) Religion and Politics in the Middle East (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1981).
Mr. Gotlieb has served as a consultant to public policy organizations, and he directed the World Jewish Congress' Project for the Study of Middle Eastern Nationalities. He is currently the executive editor of Israel Horizons magazine.
Yosef Gotlieb received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Clark University.
Contents
Acknowledgments / V
Chapter
1 Self-Determination in the Middle East: The Endurance of Turmoil / 1
2 The Historical Antecedents of Mideast Political Culture / 12
3 The Emergence of Mideast Elitist Government / 28
4 From Feudalism to Petrodollars: The Mideast Transformed / 45
5 Unremitting Passion: The Kurdish National Movement / 72
6 Beneath the Veil: Arabia-In-Africa / 106
7 Armenia: Eluding National Extinguishment / 118
8 Redefining the Middle East: the Question of Self-Determination / 134
Selected Bibliography / 152
Index / 165
About The Author / 179
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Limits of space prevent me from thanking the many writers and thinkers whose work guided me in the preparation of this book. Among these people are members from the gamut of Middle Eastern nationalities. I hope that this work will serve to honor the quests for freedom in which many of these people are engaged.
I am grateful to the directors of the Curwen Stoddart Memorial Fund, who encouraged my work by making a grant available to me in 1979. The fund was established in memory of Curwen Stoddart, who had dedicated his life to facilitating Arab-Jewish rapprochement. I have earnestly sought to incorporate Professor Stoddart's progressive vision concerning the peaceful coexistence of Mideastern peoples into this work.
I am also indebted to the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and particularly to its executive director, Israel Singer, for enabling me to pursue the research that informs this work during my tenure as director of the WJCs Project for the Study of Middle Eastern Nationalities. During this project I benefited from the research assistance and friendship of Wilhelm ("Bill") Figueroa.
A special thanks is due to Dr. Ismet Sherrif Vanly, whose comments on my chapter dealing with the Kurdish national movement proved most helpful to me.
My greatest appreciation goes to my wife, Donna Eve Nevel, without whose intellectual prowess and analytic abilities this work would not have succeeded.
1
Self-Determination in the Middle East: The Endurance of Turmoil
The great expanse of territory extending from the westernmost reaches of northern Africa to lands east of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, from Asia Minor to the deepest Sudan, encompasses those countries presently under Arab rule, that is, the "Arab world." These stretches of land straddle the African and Asian continents and vary from desert wilderness to snow-covered mountains.
Ethnically, the "Arab world" is a highly heterogeneous region. Multitudes of Kurds populate the Middle East's northern tier along with Arabs, Azerbaijanis, Baluch, Persians, Turcomans, and other Turks. Arabs and Jews, Armenians and Assyrians, Druze and self-described "Phoenecians" inhabit Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan. While the Arabian Peninsula is correctly described as a "sea of Arab-dom," Dhofaris, Persians, and other ethnic groups have struck roots deep in Islam's heartland.
Across the Red Sea, in Africa, Nubians and other ethnic Africans inhabit Djibouti and the south of the Sudan. Also living in these countries are ethnic Somalis, who make up the majority of the population in Somalia and Eritrea. Just north, in Egypt, live the
Copts, a small minority who some Egyptians maintain represent the contemporary manifestation of primordial Egypt. To the west of Egypt, in Libya, Algeria, and Morocco, Berber language and culture form the social basis of the Maghrebian hinterland. Mauritania, as its name denotes, is the "land of the Moors," a hybrid people of mixed Arab-Berber ancestry.
As diverse as the Middle East is ethnically, its linguistic and cultural richness makes the region a mosaic of peoples. Arabic language and culture are dominant in the region, but to depict the Middle East as a vast Arab domain belies the region's manifest heterogeneity.
…..
Yosef Gotlieb
Self-Determination in the Middle East
Praeger
Praeger Publishers
Self-Determination in the Middle East
Yosef Gotlieb
Praeger Special Studies
Praeger Scientific
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Gotlieb, Yosef
Self-determination in the Middle East.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Minorities—Near East. 2. Near East—Politics
and government. 3. Near East—Ethnic relations. I. Title.
JQ1758.A38M53 1982 / 323.1'56 / 82-13239
ISBN 0-03-062408-8
Published in 1982 by Praeger Publishers
CBS Educational and Professional Publishing
A division of CBS Inc.
521 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10175 U.S.A.
© 1982 Yosef Gotlieb
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