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Judaism is a religion created by the Hebrews and was founded by Abraham. They read the Torah and their holiest site in the Jewish religion is the western wall located in Jerusalem. Holidays include Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), and Hanukkah

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The Torah is the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures.

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The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures. Varying parts of the Bible are considered to be a record of the relationship between God and humans by Christians, Jews, Samaritans, and Rastafarians.

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Some minority groups in the middle east include non-Arab Muslims, or the Kurds, and non-Muslim Arabs, or Arab Christians. Some of these groups lack the rights to practice their religion or are treated unfairly because of their religion.

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The process of shifting an economy away from a single income source toward multiple sources from a growing range of sectors and markets.

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The middle east has three types of government Theocracy, Parliamentary Democracy, and Absolute Monarchy.

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Islam, founded by Muhammad in A.D. 610, is the religion of Muslims. Muhammad is believed to be the prophet of Allah. Muslims practice their religion in mosques and study the Qur'an.

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EPA identifies contaminants to regulate in drinking water to protect public health.

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Monotheism is the belief in one God only.

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A vast majority of SWANA is desert, because of this water regulation is very important in order to maintain life.

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Most women living in SWANA have a lack of basic human rights.

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The standard of living in SWANA is dependent on the country. For example, Iraq has an underdeveloped economy, due to multiple decades of wars with varying countries, which is dependent upon the exporting of oil to other countries. However, a country, such as Israel, has one of the highest GDP's in the middle east

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The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 broke out when five Arab nations invaded territory in the former Palestinian mandate. This was immediately following the announcement of the independence of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948.

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Shahada- To formally pronounce your faith to Islam.
Salah- To pray five times a day towards Mecca.
Zakat- To give to charity and the homeless.
Sawm- To fast in Ramadan.
Hajj- To make a pilgrimage to Mecca

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The Islamic State, or ISIS, is a militant organization that emerged as an offshoot of Al Qaeda in 2014.

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The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an intergovernmental organisation of 14 nations.

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The Arab Spring was a series of protests, revolutions and civil wars that took place or began during 2010.

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Al-Qaeda is a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden.

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The Taliban, created in the 1990s, is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement and military organization in Afghanistan currently waging war within that country.

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SWANA has about ten major bodies of water, most of which are used for shipping or trade.

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The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God.

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Geographic factors, especially the availability of water, have influenced settlement in the subregion.  Because water is scarce, people have for centuries settled along the seacoasts and rivers. Also the Nile river valley is one of the worlds most densely populated areas because of this.

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Christianity, founded by Jesus in A.D. 33, is the lesser predominate religion in SWANA. They practice their religion in churches and study using the Bible. Christianity contains three branches, all of which consider Jerusalem their sacred site.

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Secularism is very predominate in countries like the U.S., howevermost, if not all, SWANA countries practice extreme fundamentalism.