{"id":199,"date":"2022-09-01T15:19:43","date_gmt":"2022-09-01T15:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/religionsofmiddleeast1\/?post_type=chapter&p=199"},"modified":"2022-11-04T01:51:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T01:51:01","slug":"unending-struggle-religion-and-conflict-in-the-modern-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/religionsofmiddleeast1\/chapter\/unending-struggle-religion-and-conflict-in-the-modern-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 1. Unending Struggle? Religion and Conflict in the Modern Middle East"},"content":{"raw":"ISIS (or Daesh) was founded in\u00a0Iraq to\u00a0empower Sunni Muslims in the name of\u00a0an Islamic government. \u00a0In June 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaimed himself to be the caliph, or rightful leaders over the Muslim world.\u00a0 Most Muslims around the\u00a0world did not\u00a0recognize his claim as legitimate.\u200bThe brutal civil war in Syria, arising from the Arab\u00a0Spring,\u00a0created a\u00a0power vacuum in much of that country, providing ISIS with the\u00a0chance to move into\u00a0Syria as well.\u00a0 In summer 2014, ISIS troops\u00a0captured Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq and used its assets\u00a0to fund their operations.\u00a0 In the territory that it controlled (with some\u00a0eight million residents) ISIS set up a quasi-state.\u200b\r\n\r\nISIS has specialized in using the Internet to attract\u00a0disaffected\u00a0young Muslims in Western countries, inspiring\u00a0them to carry out\u00a0terrorist attacks in the name of Islam.\u00a0 It was famous for its public beheadings of \u201cinfidels\u201d which were filmed and posted on the web.\u00a0 Many of these \u201cinfidels\u201d were Middle Eastern Christians, such as Coptic Christians, or other religious minorities, such as the Yazidis.\r\n\r\nIn January 2015, ISIS was pushed out of\u00a0Iraq by an international coalition led by the United States called Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR).\u00a0 In March 2019, ISIS lost its last territorial holdings in Syria, but increasingly it is\u00a0seeking to\u00a0influence conflicts in other parts of the world, becoming more like al-Qaeda as a transnational movement, although the two groups have often sparred with each other.\u00a0 There is also some concern that ISIS or a similar group may experience a resurgence of popularity in Iraq and Syria if the socio-political issues that led to its initial emergence in those countries.\r\n\r\nJust as troubling is the renewed interfaith tensions stirred up by the activities of groups like ISIS.\u00a0 Sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi\u2019ites following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, as well as ISIS led violence against Christian groups and other religious minorities has renewed sectarian animosities also displayed in events such as the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the Syrian civil war (2011-present) and the Yemeni civil war 2014-present).\u00a0 Since the mid-1970s religious minorities have fled the region in large numbers.\r\n\r\nFor more on the future of religious diversity in the Middle East, see the following interview conducted in 2019 by the Century Foundation with Cambridge University researcher Elizabeth Monier on the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/tcf.org\/content\/report\/christians-religious-minorities-middle-east-questions-elizabeth-monier\/?agreed=1<\/a>\r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

ISIS (or Daesh) was founded in\u00a0Iraq to\u00a0empower Sunni Muslims in the name of\u00a0an Islamic government. \u00a0In June 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaimed himself to be the caliph, or rightful leaders over the Muslim world.\u00a0 Most Muslims around the\u00a0world did not\u00a0recognize his claim as legitimate.\u200bThe brutal civil war in Syria, arising from the Arab\u00a0Spring,\u00a0created a\u00a0power vacuum in much of that country, providing ISIS with the\u00a0chance to move into\u00a0Syria as well.\u00a0 In summer 2014, ISIS troops\u00a0captured Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq and used its assets\u00a0to fund their operations.\u00a0 In the territory that it controlled (with some\u00a0eight million residents) ISIS set up a quasi-state.\u200b<\/p>\n

ISIS has specialized in using the Internet to attract\u00a0disaffected\u00a0young Muslims in Western countries, inspiring\u00a0them to carry out\u00a0terrorist attacks in the name of Islam.\u00a0 It was famous for its public beheadings of \u201cinfidels\u201d which were filmed and posted on the web.\u00a0 Many of these \u201cinfidels\u201d were Middle Eastern Christians, such as Coptic Christians, or other religious minorities, such as the Yazidis.<\/p>\n

In January 2015, ISIS was pushed out of\u00a0Iraq by an international coalition led by the United States called Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR).\u00a0 In March 2019, ISIS lost its last territorial holdings in Syria, but increasingly it is\u00a0seeking to\u00a0influence conflicts in other parts of the world, becoming more like al-Qaeda as a transnational movement, although the two groups have often sparred with each other.\u00a0 There is also some concern that ISIS or a similar group may experience a resurgence of popularity in Iraq and Syria if the socio-political issues that led to its initial emergence in those countries.<\/p>\n

Just as troubling is the renewed interfaith tensions stirred up by the activities of groups like ISIS.\u00a0 Sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi\u2019ites following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, as well as ISIS led violence against Christian groups and other religious minorities has renewed sectarian animosities also displayed in events such as the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the Syrian civil war (2011-present) and the Yemeni civil war 2014-present).\u00a0 Since the mid-1970s religious minorities have fled the region in large numbers.<\/p>\n

For more on the future of religious diversity in the Middle East, see the following interview conducted in 2019 by the Century Foundation with Cambridge University researcher Elizabeth Monier on the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/tcf.org\/content\/report\/christians-religious-minorities-middle-east-questions-elizabeth-monier\/?agreed=1<\/a><\/p>\n

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