Research Book Post #1- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 20-50

      In the first 30 pages of my book, The Future of Oil, Sanjay Patel builds a good foundation of knowledge one should know about the oil crisis in order to understand what is happening in the events he touches on. Patel talks about how the price of oil has never been that high in the past so now that they are extremely high it has taken time for people to adjust their lifestyles to it. He shows the effects that rising oil prices have on everyday people and how big of an effect it can have on their lifestyles. Patel acknowledges that oil is not a reliable source of energy for the worlds future and there are some short term alternatives to this problem, but as of now we do not have any long term solutions for this problem. Patel says that the only true way that we can make the switch from oil to a different source is if we reduce the demand for oil. This means that our world needs to become much more environmentally friendly and people need to start realizing the effects their actions have on the earth.

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 7: Religion and Who Owns Jerusalem, Israel Arab Conflict, Religious Conflict in the Middle East?

Jack Shams

AP Human Geography 

1/6/16

Who Owns Jerusalem 

Israel Arab Conflict 

Religious Conflict in the Middle East

Chapter 7: Religion 

                                                              Thoughts and Ruminations 

Essay Question: How do the terms religion, Judaism, and Islam used in the Chapter 7 relate to Who Owns Jerusalem, Israel Arab Conflict, Religious Conflict in the Middle East?

     Religion is debatably the most discussed topic in the world today. While religion has given many people hope, happiness, and direction in their lives it has also caused wars, death, and corruption. People become so affiliated and close with their religion that they believe it should be the only religion. This creates religious based conflicts. For example the conflict between Judaism and Islam. The Jewish and Muslim religions have lots of historical connections, their values are quite different. In the article Arab-Israeli Conflict in the Israel Science and Technology Directory, some of the differences between the two religions are shared. The article reads, “In contrast to Islam, the Jewish beliefs and traditions are associated specifically with the Jewish People. Judaism strongly opposes forced conversions of other nations…The use of Islamic religion to encourage suicide bombers with the promise of heavenly life with virgins, illustrates the great gap between Islam and Jewish beliefs. The Hebrew Bible prohibits killing in the Ten Commandments and completely rejects and deplores suicide.” Differences in values and beliefs such as these lead opposing religions to engage in conflict causing tragedies such as war. 

   The constant fight against Jews and Muslims can be attributed to many things, but the controversy over Jerusalem continues to be a large point of disagreement and argument. this is because before the war of Israeli Independence in 1948, the UN decided to divide the land that is now Israel and Palestine so that Jews and Arabs could both live there while technically still in two separate countries. With the division of the land the holy city of Jerusalem was located on the Arab side of the border. This land is so important to both religions because the city of Jerusalem lies there. Jerusalem is a holy place for both Jews and Muslims alike. According to the article Who Owns Jerusalem by Ehab Zahriyeh The Arabs of the Jerusalem-Bethlehem area controlled the majority of the land there and the people of Jews did not like that. Israel declared its independence from the Arabs of Palestine which was not taken well by the Arabs. This was followed by the Arabs going to war with the Israelis in 1948. During the war Israeli forces fought their way to Jerusalem and pushed out the Palestinian Muslims. This resulted in the Israelis taking control of Jerusalem along with 78% of the land. This has lead to the controversy of who truly and rightfully owns Jerusalem.   

     Jews and Muslims have never had a great relationship with one another as history shows. After the war of 1948 thousands of Jews were forced to leave Arab countries or face death. The same happened for to Muslims on Jewish countries. In the article Hotspots in the Middle East from the Center for Reduction of Religious-Based Conflict, the losses suffered by both sides are explained. The article reads, “After the 1948 War, more than 700,000 Jews in 8 Arab countries were forced flee for their lives, their property ransacked, and their schools, hospitals, synagogues and cemeteries expropriated or destroyed. On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were either forced from their lands after the UN founding of the state of Israel, or tragically, have remained quarantined in squalid camps sustained by UN and Arab countries’ aid.” The constant feud between the Jews and Muslims have cost them both very much over time yet they continue to fight. This is due to the sheer power that religion holds over man. 

     The hostility between Jews and Muslims still very present to this day along with many other religious conflicts. Two of the biggest points of the conflict between the two religions are the difference in values and the controversy of who owns Jerusalem. Religious conflicts will always be happening as long as religion is still around as history has shown. 

Muslim women wanted there to be equality within the Muslim community but men contiuned to shut them down and reject their ideas so they created the Musawah Organization which then 

began raising awareness and ideas on how this problem needs to be dealt with. 

http://www.musawah.org/

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6J6k6k4pSY