Middle East (1954)

[Music] [Music] the muzin caused the followers of Islam to prayer city folks gather to pray in groups wandering tribesmen spread their prayer rugs on the barren desert farmers and villagers pause in their day's work all turn toward MCA the holy city to give voice to their faith in God here once flourished the great cities of the ancient world for the Middle East is the birthplace of our civilization here the ancient Egyptians built structures never equaled by modern man here is Holy Jerusalem Center of three of the world's great religions Judaism Christianity and Islam the Dome of the Rock is revered by all three faiths for here King Solomon built his Temple here Jesus told his Parables and here Muhammad is said to have ascended into into heaven great architects of the Middle East poets and Scholars have added Rich threads to the fabric of our culture but today the Middle East is largely a Barren land which nature seems to have forsaken there is great heat and bitter cold few resources and little water where food must be coaxed from the Earth by man's ingenuity the Middle East or the near East as it is also called is centered on the Arabian Peninsula which contains the large desert country of Saudi Arabia fringed by several tribal territories to the north bordering the Soviet Union are Afghanistan Iran which was formerly Persia and turkey most European of these countries between them lies the smaller lands of Iraq Syria and Jordan tiny Lebanon with a Christian majority and Jewish Israel are the only non-muslim states in the Middle East on the other side of the Red Sea is Egypt with a narrow neck of land which contains the Suz Canal of utmost importance in World shipping indeed the Middle East lies at a world Crossroads it provides a land route between the three continents of Europe Africa and Asia a water route through the the Suez Canal and a terminal for Airlines bound East and West the people of the Middle East may be divided into three important groups City men Nomads and peasant Farmers while the members of each group go their own ways occasionally they may meet perhaps in a city bizar where a coffee pot is to be purchased by far the largest of the three groups are the peasants who make up more than 3/4 of the Middle East population most are too poor to come inside a shop like this but Mustafa is fairly well off Mustafa lives in a nearby Village in the compound next to his house he has a camel to help him in the field and a donkey to make his load of work lighter he has a milk goat for his children and a few chickens to add variety to the family diet but most peasants rarely have meat of any kind the main staple of the diet is an unleavened bread baked by mustafa's wife mustafa's Village is in the dry Hills where he must depend on occasional winter rains for the moisture to grow his crops it has one street lined by the homes of the peasant farmers who work in the surrounding Fields the houses are ancient usually made of stone or other readily available materials with flat roofs covered with straw which has been rolled into mud near the village are the common grazing grounds for the Sheep Mustafa owns three of the sheep the others belong to different people in the village one of the older boys guards them the wool from these sheep made into the famous Oriental Rugs or sold for export is one of the few sources of cash income for the villagers Mustafa owns his own piece of land and plants of wheat crop which will grow during the mild winter most of his neighbors aren't as well off without animals to help them entire families have to work in the field like the vast majority of peasants in the Middle East they don't own the fields in which they work but must share a large part of their cops with the owner the local Sheikh much of the farming in the Middle East depends on irrigation and there are rich lands in sharp contrast to mustafa's baren Farm some of the fruits of the Middle East are renowned for their fine quality Egyptian long staple cotton is known the world over yet only a tiny part of the Middle East is cultivated most of the Farmland is along the coastal areas and along the three major rivers of the area the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in Iraq and the Nile River along whose Banks nearly all of the people of Egypt live the rest of the land if it can be used at all is suitable only for grazing it is the home of nomad herdsmen like Ali the bedin Ali Bargains at Great length before buying for he has little money to [Music] spend tomorrow he will take the bus back to the village where he has left his camel in a [Music] stable then will come a long journey over the desert [Music] [Applause] [Music] perhaps Ali's son will be waiting to greet him and to tell him what has happened during the few days he has been away [Music] Ali will want to hear about his herds for his very home is made from hides and cloth woven from wool his clothing and most of the Furnishings of his house depend on his animals for they provide the foundation of the nomad's economic [Music] existence animals not only provide the Nomad with clothing cloth milk and occasionally meat but also give him a few products to sell for barter or for [Music] cash the camels provide personal Transportation as well they may be hired to carry goods and Caravans across the desert although this is fast being replaced by modern vehicles Ali's tribe is only waiting for his return to be off to another water hole in the town territory that is by custom recognized as belonging to this tribe for water is precious on the desert ownership of land is meaningless without ownership of Wells or Springs the bwin is constantly driven from place to place by the need to find grazing for his herds his life is hard and exacting for he is strictly Bound by tribal customs as well as by the harsh realities of getting enough food and water for his family and his [Music] herds occasionally Ali gets money as a guide for Caravans or tourists for he is an expert tracker and can read the face of the desert as easily as we can read a road [Music] map the merchant yusf represents another important group in the Middle East the city dwellers these people are members of a growing middle class until recent times the people of the Middle East were either extremely wealthy and owned magnificent palaces or were so poor that getting enough to eat was the major problem of the day's work while growing in importance these new middleclass people make up only a tiny portion of the inhabitants of the Middle East many are influenced by European ideas and have partially adopted European clothing housing furnishings and other Western ways education has been more readily available to them and they have become conscious of the importance of the Middle East in the world and are aware that attention must be given to world affairs many people in the Middle East have developed an Ardent nationalistic spirit and have become extremely interested in politics their children go to school learn to read and write they have their local newspapers listen to the radio and the cities have telephone service a recent development of major importance has been the discovery of vast oil deposits in many parts of the Middle East these oil fields have been developed largely through foreign Capital the payment of royalties has bettered the financial position of some countries although ownership of the oil fields has has caused considerable political unrest much of the oil is exported in its crude state by huge tankers oil is found mostly in Iran Saudi Arabia and Iraq with several pipelines for the transportation of oil some is refined in the Middle East before shipment and a growing number of modern refineries dot the area oil is the middle east's major export in addition there is small trade in items like fruit tobacco and long staple cotton Imports are chiefly machinery and manufactured goods such as cloth commercial and Industrial activity are confined to the major cities which are comparatively few in number two of the most important are stul at the crossroads where turkey meets Europe and Cairo on the Nile Delta it is the middle east's oil however together with its strategic location which has made the area important in world affairs its new position in world affairs is slowly bringing changes to the Middle East there's a new spirit among the University students where women work and study on an equal basis with men in a sharp break with ancient tradition government Health Centers have been set up in some of the Cities here and there new schools have appeared for the children financed by oil royalties the use of f Machinery meager as it is is a symbol of The Changing [Music] Times old irrigation projects thousands of years the same are being supplemented by new and more efficient ones outdated machinery and adequated factories are slowly being replaced by more modern and efficient equipment modern communication is quickening the spread of new ideas old means of transportation are giving way to newer and better ones the Caravan is dying out in favor of the bus the truck and the airplane some of the world's most modern airports are located in the Middle East but while its face is changing at heart the Middle East Remains the Same for this is a land of strong tradition where the bustle of the modern world is mingled with the age-old chant of the moisin [Music] [Music]