Understanding the Difference - ISIS vs. ISIL

Talking about ISIS always ends up with a joke or two aimed at either the Islamic extremists who make up ISIS/ISIL; or an assertion that President Obama is pandering somehow to the terrorist group by calling them ISIL instead of ISIS; as if that makes a difference. So, what is the difference? It’s a pretty large one; involving what is known as the Levantine Basin at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

The Levantine Sea is at the water’s edge of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and even part of Libya. So why does this matter? Because it encompasses not only a huge oil reserve but also the islands of Cyprus and Crete, which were once stepping stones to Europe during the Crusades;  and can be likened to our own island hopping to Japan in World War Two. So, the designation ISIL more accurately reflects the wider goal of the terror group to conquer territories beyond the Middle Eastern battleground of Syria and Iraq. The entire area encompasses over 320,000 square km. (That’s about 123,000 square miles.)

The northern part of this sea between Turkey and Cyprus is called the Cilician Sea. The main port there is Iskenderun, which sits just above the border to Syria. I spent a hundred years there one summer.

The real prize for the ones who wind up controlling this area will be the Leviathan gas field which lies beneath the ocean floor. The possibility of the revenue from that resource finding its way into the hands of a militant and radical group such as ISIS/ISIL is frightening. And make no mistake about it, this is their goal.

This is actually the reason the group calls itself ISIL rather than ISIS, and it clearly demonstrates their intention to control not only the territory on which they are currently fighting, but also the entire Levantine Basin. So, the next time you laugh at the media sparring over the name of the group, try and remember that this is no joking matter. 

While ISIS stands for an Islamic State in Syria; ISIL is the more accurate moniker and stands for an Islamic State in Levantine. The former sounds almost like a small regional conflict, while the latter is more emblematic of the long term danger posed by this group; whatever you choose to call them. 

"Crossing Mandelbaum Gate" by Kai Bird

The history of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict is as confusing and conflicted as anything can be. We, today, concentrate on the events that have taken place since the formation of Israel as a nation in 1948. That is a short sighted view, focusing on who threw the first stone in the last 60 years or so. This book, written by Kai Bird, the son of an American Foreign Service Officer who moved his family from Oregon to serve in Jerusalem during the late 1950's, lays bare the roots of the continuing conflict that still ravage the region. This was a very tense time in the history of the area, a time in which Israel took control of the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal. And young Kai Bird had a front row seat to it all.

What makes this book so compelling is that is holds no real bias for either side. Rather, the author explores the history and cultures of the region, looking for the reasons behind why these two cultures, who are so close in many of their beliefs, have come to the brink of annihilating one another while the whole world watches. The conclusions drawn by the author may shock you.

The Mandelbaum House, which had a gate, from which the author took the title of this book, was a house that stood on the very edge of the Northern Wall to the Old City of Jerusalem. It was built by Simchoh and Esther Mandelbaum in the late 1880's, who, having outgrown their house in Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter, decided to build just outside the wall in an effort to attract, and expand, the Jewish Community.

At first things were going well, but by the 1920's the house had become an outpost, frequently attacked by the neighboring Arabs. In 1929 the house became the headquarters of the Jewish Haganah. It also became the unofficial dividing line between New and Old Jerusalem. This is the gate through which the author passed daily as a child.

Throughout the 1950's and on through the 1970's the Mideast was in the throes of all the political changes that would come to define the region in the 21st Century. The double dealing and duplicitous oil company Aramco (Arab American Oil Company) sought to carve up all of the Middle East for the profit involved in extracting the oil in the surrounding countries.(Israel has no oil reserves of it's own.)

The infighting amongst the Saudi families, the wrangling between President Eisenhower and Abba Eban on the eve of the 1956 War, which would pit the United States against the Soviet Union for de-facto control of the region, are all covered in this scholarly and researched work. Jordan's changing role over the years is of special interest, as the Palestinian refugees continue to suffer the hardships of their initial refusal to share Palestine, largely at the urging of her Arab neighbors, such as Jordan and Egypt.

The biggest surprise in the book is how the author lived, side by side, with both Israeli and Palestinian citizens, getting to know each side of the story that has come to define the Middle East. This is an engaging and informative book that will help you navigate the intricacies of that conflict.