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Friday, October 6, 2023

Fascism in North America

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An example of Fascism in America

Fascism has a long history in North America, with the earliest movements appearing shortly after the rise of Fascism in Europe. Fascist movements in North America never gained power, unlike their counterparts in Europe.

Canada

Main article: Fascism in Canada
Further information: Antisemitism in Canada and Racism in Canada

In Canada, fascism was divided between two main political parties. The Winnipeg-based Canadian Union of Fascists was modelled after the British Union of Fascists and led by Chuck Crate. The Parti national social chrétien, later renamed the Canadian National Socialist Unity Party, was founded by Adrien Arcand and inspired by Nazism. The Canadian Union of Fascists in English Canada never reached the level of popularity that the Parti national social chrétien enjoyed in Quebec. The Canadian Union of Fascists focused on economic issues while the Parti national social chrétien concentrated on racist themes. The influence of the Canadian fascist movement reached its height during the Great Depression and declined from then on.

Central America

See also: Nazi Party/Foreign Organization

The dominance of right-wing politics in Central America by populism and the military has meant that there has been little space for the development of proper fascist movements.

As a minor movement, the Nazi Party was active among German immigrants in El Salvador, where the government cracked down on activity, and Guatemala, which outlawed the Nazi Party and the Hitler Youth in May 1939, among others. They also organised in Nicaragua although Falangism was more important, especially in the Colegio Centro América in Managua where this brand of fascism flourished in the 1930s.

Costa Rica

The existence of figures sympathetic to Nazism in high political positions has been pointed out in the administrations of León Cortés Castro and Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia. Cortés in particular (who spent some time in Nazi Germany) was famous as sympathizer since he was a presidential candidate.

In the 1930s, a movement sympathetic to Nazism developed among the large community of German origin. Supporters of Nazism used to meet in the German Club.

Since the declaration of war on the Third Reich by Costa Rica during Calderón Guardia's presidency, many citizens and residents of German and Italian origin were imprisoned and their properties nationalized, even though the vast majority had no links with Nazism or Fascism. The doctrinal origins of racism and the allegations of European racial superiority in Costa Rica had previous origins, as for example among the racist writings of Costa Rican scientist Clodomiro Picado Twight.

Panama

The Central American leader who came closest to being an important domestic fascist was Arnulfo Arias of Panama who, during the 1940s, became a strong admirer of Italian fascism and advocated it following his ascension to the presidency in 1940.

Caribbean

Fascism was rare in Caribbean politics, not only for the same reasons as those in Central America but also due to the continuation of colonialism into the 1950s. However Falangist movements have been active in Cuba, notably under Antonio Avendaño and Alfonso Serrano Vilariño from 1936 to 1940. A Cuban Nazi party was also active but this group, which attempted to change its name to the 'Fifth Column Party' was banned in 1941. As in Cuba, Falangist groups have been active in Puerto Rico, especially during World War II, when an 8000 strong branch came under FBI scrutiny.

Mexico

Further information: Racism in Mexico

In 1922, the Mexican Fascist Party was founded by Gustavo Sáenz de Sicilia. The party was viewed with dismay by Italian fascists, and in 1923, the Italian ambassador stated that "This party was not anything else than a bad imitation of ours".

The National Synarchist Union was founded in 1937 by José Antonio Urquiza. The group espoused some of the aspects of the palingenetic ultranationalism which is at the core of fascism because it sought a rebirth of society away from the anarchism, communism, socialism, liberalism, Freemasonry, secularism and Americanism which it believed were dominating Mexico. However, it differed from European fascism because it was very Roman Catholic in nature. Although supportive of corporatism the National Synarchist Union was arguably too counterrevolutionary to be considered truly fascist.

A similar group, the Gold Shirts, founded in 1933 by Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco, also bore some of the hallmarks of fascism.

A Falange Española Tradicionalista was also formed in Mexico by Spanish merchants who were based there and opposed the consistent level of support which was given to the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War by Lázaro Cárdenas. However, the group was peripheral because it did not seek to acquire any amount of influence outside this immigrant population. A Partido Nacional Socialista Mexicano was also active, with most of its 15,000 members being of German background.

A more modern group, the Nationalist Front of Mexico was founded in San Luis Potosí in 2006 by Juan Carlos López Lee. It has strongly promoted the Reconquista ideology.

United States

Further information: Nazism in the Americas, Antisemitism in the United States, History of antisemitism in the United States, Racism in the United States, and Radical right (United States)

In the 1920s, American intellectuals paid a considerable amount of attention to Mussolini's early Fascist movement in Italy, but few of them became his supporters. However, he was initially very popular in the Italian American community. During the 1930s, Virgil Effinger led the paramilitary Black Legion, a violent offshoot of the Ku Klux Klan that sought to establish fascism in the United States by launching a revolution. Although it was responsible for a number of attacks, the Black Legion was only a peripheral band of militants.

According to Noam Chomsky, the rise of fascism raised concerns during the interwar period, but it was largely viewed positively by the U.S. and British governments, the corporate community, and a significant portion of the elite. This was because the fascist interpretation of extreme nationalism allowed for significant economic influence in the West while also destroying the left and the hated labor groups. Hitler, like Saddam Hussein, enjoyed strong British and U.S. support until his direct action, which severely damaged British and U.S. interests.

William Philips, the American ambassador to Italy, was "greatly impressed by the efforts of Benito Mussolini to improve the conditions of the masses" and found "much evidence" In support of the fascist stance that "they represent a true democracy in as much as the welfare of the people is their principal objective." He found Mussolini's achievements "astounding [and] a source of constant amazement," and greatly admired his "great human qualities." United States Department of State enthusiastically agreed, praising fascism for having "brought order out of chaos, discipline out of license, and solvency out of bankruptcy" as well as Mussolini's "magnificent" achievements in Ethiopia. According to Scott Newton, by the time the war broke out in 1939, Britain was more sympathetic to Adolf Hitler for reasons centered on trade and financial relations as well as a policy of self-preservation for the British establishment in the face of growing democratic challenges.

German American Bund (1936–1940)

The German American Bund, was the most prominent and well-organized fascist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1936, following the model of Hitler's Nazi Germany. It appeared shortly after the founding of several smaller groups, including the Friends of New Germany (1933) and the Silver Legion of America, founded in 1933 by William Dudley Pelley and the Free Society of Teutonia. Membership in the German-American Bund was only open to American citizens of German descent. Its main goal was to promote a favorable view of Nazi Germany.

The Bund was very active. Its members were issued uniforms and they also attended training camps. The Bund held rallies with Nazi insignia and procedures such as the Hitler salute. Its leaders denounced the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jewish-American groups, Communism, "Moscow-directed" trade unions and American boycotts of German goods. They claimed that George Washington was "the first Fascist" because he did not believe that democracy would work.

The high point of the Bund's activities was the rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on February 20, 1939 with some 20,000 people in attendance. The anti-Semitic Speakers repeatedly referred to President Roosevelt "Frank D. Rosenfeld", calling his New Deal the "Jew Deal", and denouncing the Bolshevik-Jewish American leadership. The rally ended with violence between protesters and Bund "storm-troopers". In 1939, America's top fascist, the leader of the Bund, Fritz Julius Kuhn, was investigated by the city of New York and found to be embezzling Bund funds for his own use. He was arrested, his citizenship was revoked, and he was deported. After the War, he was arrested and imprisoned again.

In 1940, the U.S. Army organized a draft in an attempt to bring citizens into military service. The Bund advised its members not to submit to the draft. On this basis, the Bund was outlawed by the U.S. government, and its leader fled to Mexico.

Father Charles Coughlin

Father Charles Coughlin was a Roman Catholic priest who hosted a very popular radio program in the late 1930s, on which he often ventured into politics. In 1932 he endorsed the election of President Franklin Roosevelt, but he gradually turned against Roosevelt and became a harsh critic of him. His radio program and his newspaper, "Social Justice", denounced Roosevelt, the "big banks", and "the Jews". When the United States entered World War II, the U.S. government took his radio broadcasts off the air, and blocked his newspaper from the mail. He abandoned politics, but continued to be a parish priest until his death in 1979.

The American architect-to-be Philip Johnson was a correspondent (in Germany) for Coughlin's newspaper, between 1934 and 1940 (before beginning his architectural career). He wrote articles favorable to the Nazis; and critical of "the Jews", and he also took part in a Nazi-sponsored press tour, in which he covered the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland. He quit the newspaper in 1940, was investigated by the FBI and was eventually cleared for army service in World War II. Years later he would refer to these activities as "the stupidest thing [sic.] I ever did ... [which] I never can atone for".

Ezra Pound

The American poet Ezra Pound moved from the United States to Italy in 1924, and he became a staunch supporter of Benito Mussolini, the founder of a fascist state. He wrote articles and made radio broadcasts which were critical of the United States, international bankers, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Jews. His propaganda was not well received in the U.S. After 1945, he was taken to the United States, where he was imprisoned for his actions on behalf of fascism. He was placed in a psychiatric hospital for twelve years, but in 1958, he was finally released after a campaign was launched on his behalf by American writers. He returned to Italy, where he died in 1972.

World War II and "The Great Sedition Trial" (1944)

During World War II, first Canada and then the United States battled the Axis powers to the death. As part of the war effort, they suppressed the fascist movements within their borders, which were already weakened by the widespread public perception that they were fifth columns. This suppression consisted of the internment of fascist leaders, the disbanding of fascist organizations, the censorship of fascist propaganda, and pervasive government propaganda against fascism.

In the US, this campaign of suppression culminated in November 1944 in "The Great Sedition Trial", in which George Sylvester Viereck, Lawrence Dennis, Elizabeth Dilling, William Dudley Pelley, Joe McWilliams, Robert Edward Edmondson, Gerald Winrod, William Griffin, and, in absentia, Ulrich Fleischhauer were all put on trial for aiding the Nazi cause, supporting fascism and isolationism. After the death of the judge, however, a mistrial was declared and all of the charges were dropped.

Later years and the American Nazi Party (1959–1983)

The American Nazi Party was founded in 1959 by George Lincoln Rockwell, a former U.S. Navy commander, who was dismissed from the Navy for his fascist political views. On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was shot and killed in Arlington by John Patler, a former party member who had previously been expelled by Rockwell for his alleged "Bolshevik leanings". The Party was dissolved in 1983.

White supremacy and fascism

In the view of philosopher Jason Stanley, white supremacy in the United States is an example of the fascist politics of hierarchy, because it "demands and implies a perpetual hierarchy" in which whites dominate and control non-whites.

Donald Trump and allegations of fascism

See also: Alt-right, Political positions of Donald Trump, Radical right (United States), and Trumpism

Some scholars have argued that the political style of Donald Trump resembles the political style of fascist leaders. Such assessments began appearing during the Trump 2016 presidential campaign, continuing over the course of the Trump presidency as he appeared to court far-right extremists, including his attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election after losing to Joe Biden, and culminating in the 2021 United States Capitol attack. As these events have unfolded, some commentators who had initially resisted applying the label to Trump came out in favor of it, including conservative legal scholar Steven G. Calabresi and conservative commentator Michael Gerson. After the attack on the Capitol, one historian of fascism, Robert O. Paxton, went so far as to state that Trump is a fascist, despite his earlier objection to using the term in this way. In "Trump and the Legacy of a Menacing Past", Henry Giroux wrote: "The inability to learn from the past takes on a new meaning as a growing number of authoritarian regimes emerge across the globe. This essay argues that central to understanding the rise of a fascist politics in the United States is the necessity to address the power of language and the intersection of the social media and the public spectacle as central elements in the rise of a formative culture that produces the ideologies and agents necessary for an American-style fascism." Other historians of fascism such as Richard J. Evans, Roger Griffin, and Stanley Payne continue to disagree that fascism is an appropriate term to describe Trump's politics.

In 2017, the Hamburg, Germany-based magazine Stern depicted Trump giving a Nazi salute and referred to neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. In the book Frankly, We Did Win This Election, authored by Michael C. Bender of The Wall Street Journal, recounts that White House Chief of Staff, John F. Kelly, was reportedly shocked by an alleged statement made by Trump that "Hitler did a lot of good things." Liz Harrington, Trump’s spokesperson, denied the claim, saying: "This is totally false. President Trump never said this. It is made-up fake news, probably by a general who was incompetent and was fired." Kelly further stated in his book that Trump had asked him why his generals could not be loyal like Hitler's generals. According to the Ohio Capital Journal, quoting his roommate, politician Josh McLaurin, then-Republican candidate and senator-elect from Ohio, J. D. Vance, was said to have wondered whether Trump was "America's Hitler". Harvard University professor of government Daniel Ziblatt also drew similarities between Hitler's rise and Trump's.  Trump has also been compared to Narendra Modi, and former aide Anthony Scaramucci also compared Trump to Benito Mussolini and Augusto Pinochet.

In a July 2021 piece for The Atlantic, former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum wrote that "Trump's no Hitler, obviously. But they share some ways of thinking. The past never repeats itself. But it offers warnings. It's time to start using the F-word again, not to defame—but to diagnose." For The Guardian, Nicholas Cohen wrote: "If Trump looks like a fascist and acts like a fascist, then maybe he is one. The F-word is one we are rightly wary of using, but how else to describe the disgraced president?" New York Magazine asked, "Is It Finally Time to Begin Calling Trumpism Fascist?" Dana Milbank also believed the insurrection qualified as fascist, writing in The Washington Post, "To call a person who endorses violence against the duly elected government a 'Republican' is itself Orwellian. More accurate words exist for such a person. One of them is 'fascist.'" Dylan Matthews writing in Vox quoted Sheri Berman as saying, "I saw Paxton's essay and of course respect him as an eminent scholar of fascism. But I can't agree with him on the fascism label."

The Guardian further reported on Trump's "stand back and stand by" directive during the 2020 United States presidential debates to the Proud Boys and it also made a note of the fact that he had made "positive remarks about far-right and white supremacist groups." During the 2020 debate, Biden asked Trump to condemn white supremacist groups, specifically the Proud Boys. Trump's response was interpreted by some as a call to arms. The United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack public hearings explored the relationships which existed between the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and Trump's allies, with evidence of coordination in the run-up to the capitol attack.

In August 2022, President Biden referred to the "extreme MAGA agenda" as "semi-fascism". In the Battle for the Soul of the Nation speech September 1, Biden criticized the "extremism" and "blind loyalty" of Trump supporters, calling them a threat to democracy. He added that he did not consider a majority of Republicans to be MAGA Republicans.

On March 13, 2023, it was reported by journalist James Risen, that a 2021 United States Capitol Attack attendee was discovered to have planned to kidnap Jewish leaders including leaders of the ADL, and philanthropist George Soros. The individual in context is known by the name of James Speed and was working as a Pentagon Analyst at the time of Risen's investigation on him and his planned attack. Reportedly, he has praised Adolf Hitler as "one of the best people there has ever been on the earth", and that "somebody like Hitler to stand up and say we're going to stand up and say we're going to stand against this moral incineration" said that "Jews for some reason love gang raping people. It doesn't matter what they are doing, they always have time to gang rape..."

Notable neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups

United States

Canada

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Dust storm

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_storm
An aerial view of a sandstorm over the Namib Desert
Dust storm
A sandstorm approaching Al Asad April 27, 2005.

A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transported by saltation and suspension, a process that moves soil from one place and deposits it in another.

The arid regions of North Africa, the Arabian peninsula, Central Asia and China are the main terrestrial sources of airborne dust. It has been argued that poor management of Earth's drylands, such as neglecting the fallow system, are increasing the size and frequency of dust storms from desert margins and changing both the local and global climate, as well as impacting local economies.

The term sandstorm is used most often in the context of desert dust storms, especially in the Sahara Desert, or places where sand is a more prevalent soil type than dirt or rock, when, in addition to fine particles obscuring visibility, a considerable amount of larger sand particles are blown closer to the surface. The term dust storm is more likely to be used when finer particles are blown long distances, especially when the dust storm affects urban areas.

Causes

Animation showing the global movement of dust from an Asian dust storm.

As the force of dust passing over loosely held particles increases, particles of sand first start to vibrate, then to move across the surface in a process called saltation. As they repeatedly strike the ground, they loosen and break off smaller particles of dust which then begin to travel in suspension. At wind speeds above that which causes the smallest to suspend, there will be a population of dust grains moving by a range of mechanisms: suspension, saltation and creep.

A study from 2008 finds that the initial saltation of sand particles induces a static electric field by friction. Saltating sand acquires a negative charge relative to the ground which in turn loosens more sand particles which then begin saltating. This process has been found to double the number of particles predicted by previous theories.

Particles become loosely held mainly due to a prolonged drought or arid conditions, and high wind speeds. Gust fronts may be produced by the outflow of rain-cooled air from an intense thunderstorm. Or, the wind gusts may be produced by a dry cold front: that is, a cold front that is moving into a dry air mass and is producing no precipitation—the type of dust storm which was common during the Dust Bowl years in the U.S. Following the passage of a dry cold front, convective instability resulting from cooler air riding over heated ground can maintain the dust storm initiated at the front.

In desert areas, dust and sand storms are most commonly caused by either thunderstorm outflows, or by strong pressure gradients which cause an increase in wind velocity over a wide area. The vertical extent of the dust or sand that is raised is largely determined by the stability of the atmosphere above the ground as well as by the weight of the particulates. In some cases, dust and sand may be confined to a relatively-shallow layer by a low-lying temperature inversion. In other instances, dust (but not sand) may be lifted as high as 6,000 m (20,000 ft). Dust storms are a major health hazard.

Drought and wind contribute to the emergence of dust storms, as do poor farming and grazing practices by exposing the dust and sand to the wind. Wildfires can lead to dust storms as well.

One poor farming practice which contributes to dust storms is dryland farming. Particularly poor dryland farming techniques are intensive tillage or not having established crops or cover crops when storms strike at particularly vulnerable times prior to revegetation. In a semi-arid climate, these practices increase susceptibility to dust storms. However, soil conservation practices may be implemented to control wind erosion.

Physical and environmental effects

Dust storm in Sahara, painted by George Francis Lyon

A sandstorm can transport and carry large volumes of sand unexpectedly. Dust storms can carry large amounts of dust, with the leading edge being composed of a wall of thick dust as much as 1.6 km (5,200 ft) high. Dust and sand storms which come off the Sahara Desert are locally known as a simoom or simoon (sîmūm, sîmūn). The haboob (həbūb) is a sandstorm prevalent in the region of Sudan around Khartoum, with occurrences being most common in the summer.

The Sahara desert is a key source of dust storms, particularly the Bodélé Depression and an area covering the confluence of Mauritania, Mali, and Algeria. Sahara dust is frequently emitted into the Mediterranean atmosphere and transported by the winds sometimes as far north as central Europe and Great Britain.

Saharan dust storms have increased approximately 10-fold during the half-century since the 1950s, causing topsoil loss in Niger, Chad, northern Nigeria, and Burkina Faso. In Mauritania there were just two dust storms a year in the early 1960s; there are about 80 a year since 2007, according to English geographer Andrew Goudie, professor at the University of Oxford. Levels of Saharan dust coming off the east coast of Africa in June 2007 were five times those observed in June 2006, and were the highest observed since at least 1999, which may have cooled Atlantic waters enough to slightly reduce hurricane activity in late 2007.

Sydney shrouded in dust during the 2009 Australian dust storm.

Dust storms have also been shown to increase the spread of disease across the globe. Bacteria and fungus spores in the ground are blown into the atmosphere by the storms with the minute particles and interact with urban air pollution.

Short-term effects of exposure to desert dust include immediate increased symptoms and worsening of the lung function in individuals with asthma, increased mortality and morbidity from long-transported dust from both Saharan and Asian dust storms suggesting that long-transported dust storm particles adversely affects the circulatory system. Dust pneumonia is the result of large amounts of dust being inhaled.

Prolonged and unprotected exposure of the respiratory system in a dust storm can also cause silicosis, which, if left untreated, will lead to asphyxiation; silicosis is an incurable condition that may also lead to lung cancer. There is also the danger of keratoconjunctivitis sicca ("dry eyes") which, in severe cases without immediate and proper treatment, can lead to blindness.

Economic impact

Dust storms cause soil loss from the drylands, and worse, they preferentially remove organic matter and the nutrient-rich lightest particles, thereby reducing agricultural productivity. Also, the abrasive effect of the storm damages young crop plants. Dust storms also reduce visibility, affecting aircraft and road transportation.

Sandstorm on road to Karbala

Dust can also have beneficial effects where it deposits: Central and South American rainforests get significant quantities of mineral nutrients from the Sahara; iron-poor ocean regions get iron; and dust in Hawaii increases plantain growth. In northern China as well as the mid-western U.S., ancient dust storm deposits known as loess are highly fertile soils, but they are also a significant source of contemporary dust storms when soil-securing vegetation is disturbed.

Iranian cities existence are challenged by dust storms.

On Mars

Further information: Climate of Mars § Dust storms, and Atmosphere of Mars § Dust storms
Orbital view of a Martian dust storm

Dust storms are not limited to Earth and have been known to form on other planets such as Mars. These dust storms can extend over larger areas than those on Earth, sometimes encircling the planet, with wind speeds as high as 25 m/s (60 mph). However, given Mars' much lower atmospheric pressure (roughly 1% that of Earth's), the intensity of Mars storms could never reach the kind of hurricane-force winds that are experienced on Earth. Martian dust storms are formed when solar heating warms the Martian atmosphere and causes the air to move, lifting dust off the ground. The chance for storms is increased when there are great temperature variations like those seen at the equator during the Martian summer.

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Oasis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oasis
A desert oasis, photographed from space

In ecology, an oasis (/oʊˈeɪsɪs/; PL: oases /oʊˈeɪsiːz/) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment that sustains plant life and provides habitat for animals. Surface water may be present, or water may only be accessible from wells or underground channels created by humans. In geography, an oasis may be a current or past rest stop on a transportation route, or less-than-verdant location that nonetheless provides access to underground water through deep wells created and maintained by humans.

The word oasis came into English from Latin: oasis, from Ancient Greek: ὄασις, óasis, which in turn is a direct borrowing from Demotic Egyptian. The word for oasis in the latter-attested Coptic language (the descendant of Demotic Egyptian) is wahe or ouahe which means a "dwelling place". Oasis in Arabic is wāḥa (Arabic: واحة).

Description

Oases develop in “hydrologically favored” locations that have attributes such as a high water table, seasonal lakes, or blockaded wadis. Oases are made when sources of freshwater, such as underground rivers or aquifers, irrigate the surface naturally or via man-made wells. The presence of water on the surface or underground is necessary and the local or regional management of this essential resource is strategic, but not sufficient to create such areas: continuous human work and know-how (a technical and social culture) are essential to maintain such ecosystems. Some of the possible human contributions to maintaining an oasis include digging and maintaining wells, digging and maintaining canals, and continuously removing opportunistic plants that threaten to gorge themselves on water and fertility needed to maintain human and animal food supplies. Stereotypically, an oasis has a “central pool of open water surrounded by a ring of water-dependent shrubs and trees…which are in turn encircled by an outlying transition zone to desert plants.”

Rain showers provide subterranean water to sustain natural oases, such as the Tuat. Substrata of impermeable rock and stone can trap water and retain it in pockets, or on long faulting subsurface ridges or volcanic dikes water can collect and percolate to the surface. Any incidence of water is then used by migrating birds, which also pass seeds with their droppings which will grow at the water's edge forming an oasis. It can also be used to plant crops.

Oases in the Middle East and North Africa cover about 1,000,000 hectares (10,000 km2), however, they support the livelihood of about 10 million inhabitants. The stark ratio of oasis to desert land in the world means that the oasis ecosystem is “relatively minute, rare and precious.”

There are 90 “major oases” within the Sahara Desert. Some of their fertility may derive from irrigation systems called foggaras, khettaras, lkhttarts, or a variety of other regional names.

In some oases systems, there is “a geometrical system of raised channels that release controlled amounts of the water into individual plots, soaking the soil.”

Irrigation canal within the Figuig Oasis in eastern Morocco

Oases often have human histories that are measured in millennia. Archeological digs at Ein Gedi in the Dead Sea Valley have found evidence of settlement dating to 6,000 BC. Al-Ahsa on the Arabian Peninsula shows evidence of human residence dating to the Neolithic.

Anthropologically, the oasis is “an area of sedentary life, which associates the city [medina] or village [ksar] with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”

The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas; caravans must travel via oases so that supplies of water and food can be replenished. Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on a particular route. For example, the oases of Awjila, Ghadames and Kufra, situated in modern-day Libya, have at various times been vital to both north–south and east–west trade in the Sahara Desert. The location of oases also informed the Darb El Arba'īn trade route from Sudan to Egypt, as well as the caravan route from the Niger River to Tangier, Morocco. The Silk Road “traced its course from water hole to water hole, relying on oasis communities such as Turpan in China and Samarkand in Uzbekistan.”

According to the United Nations, “Oases are at the very heart of the overall development of peri-Saharan countries due to their geographical location and the fact they are preferred migration routes in times of famine or insecurity in the region.”

Oases in Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula near the Persian Gulf, vary somewhat from the Saharan form. While still located in an arid or semi-arid zone with a date palm overstory, these oases are usually located below plateaus and “watered either by springs or by aflaj, tunnel systems dug into the ground or carved into the rock to tap underground aquifers.” This rainwater harvesting system “never developed a serious salinity problem.”

Oasis in Oman
Diagram of khattara system

In the drylands of southwestern North America, there is a habitat form called Palm Oasis (alternately Palm Series or Oasis Scrub Woodland) that has the native California fan palm as the overstory species. These Palm Oases can be found in California, Arizona, Baja California, and Sonora.

Agroforestry

Djerid Oasis, Tunisia

People who live in an oasis must manage land and water use carefully. The most important plant in an oasis is the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), which forms the upper layer. These palm trees provide shade for smaller understory trees like apricots, dates, figs, olives, and peach trees, which form the middle layer. Market-garden vegetables, some cereals (such as sorghum, barley, millet, and wheat), and/or mixed animal fodder, are grown in the bottom layer where there is more moisture. The oasis is integrated into its desert environment through an often close association with nomadic transhumant livestock farming (very often pastoral and sedentary populations are clearly distinguished). The fertility of the oasis soil is restored by “cyclic organic inputs of animal origin.” In summary, an oasis palm grove is a highly anthropized and irrigated area that supports a traditionally intensive and polyculture-based agriculture.

Responding to environmental constraints, the three strata create what is called the "oasis effect." The three layers and all their interaction points create a variety of combinations of “horizontal wind speed, relative air temperature and relative air humidity.” The plantings—through a virtuous cycle of wind reduction, increased shade and evapotranspiration—create a microclimate favorable to crops; “measurements taken in different oases have showed that the potential evapotranspiration of the areas was reduced by 30 to 50 percent within the oasis.”

The keystone date palm trees are “a main income source and staple food for local populations in many countries in which they are cultivated, and have played significant roles in the economy, society, and environment of those countries.” Challenges for date palm oasis polycultures include “low rainfall, high temperatures, water resources often high in salt content, and high incidence of pests.”

The oases consist of almost unbroken forests of date palms, divided up into many gardens that are separated by mud walls and intersected by innumerable irrigation and drainage ditches… In the shade of the palms are grown many other kinds of fruit trees—oranges, olives, figs, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, and jujubes—interlaced with large grape vines that often hang in festoons from the palm trunks. Beneath the trees are small plots of garden vegetables, barley, and alfalfa. Neither date palms nor other trees are planted with any regularity, and the growth is often so dense that the garden resembles a tropical jungle. Very beautiful are these gardens in the spring, when the apricot and peach trees are in blossom here and there among the palms and the figs and vines are putting forth their leaves. In autumn, when the dates are ripening, the color effects, especially when the tops of the palms are lit up by the last rays of the setting sun, are something that once seen can never be forgotten. The great clusters of fruit, displaying every tint from bright yellow, through orange, vermilion, and maroon, to plum purple and chestnut brown, with their brilliant yellow or rich orange ivory-like stalks, contrast superbly with the dull bluish or gray green of the feathery crowns of foliage. It is small wonder that a whole folklore of poetic legends and proverbs has grown up around the date palm in the regions where it flourishes.

— Kearney, Thomas H. (1906-09-06). Bulletin: Date Varieties and Date Culture in Tunis.

Distressed systems

Many historic oases have struggled with drought and inadequate maintenance.

According to a United Nations report on the future of oases in the Sahara and Sahel, “Increasingly…oases are subject to various pressures, heavily influenced by the effects of climate change, decreasing groundwater levels and a gradual loss of cultural heritage due to a fading historical memory concerning traditional water management techniques. These natural pressures are compounded by demographic pressures and the introduction of modern water pumping techniques that can disrupt traditional resource management schemes, particularly in the North Saharan oases.”

For example, five historic oases in the Western Desert of Egypt (Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, Baharyia, and Siwa) once had “flowing spring and wells” but due to the decline of groundwater heads because of overuse for land reclamation projects those water sources are no more and the oases suffer as a result.

Morocco has lost two-thirds of its oasis habitat over the last 100 years due to heat, drought, and water scarcity. The Ferkla Oases in Morocco once drew on water from the Ferkla, Sat and Tangarfa Rivers but they are now dry but for a few days a year.

List of places called oases

New World dryland systems with oasis-like attributes

Gallery of oases

Practical matters

A 1920 USGS publication about watering holes in the deserts of California and Arizona gave this advice for travelers seeking oases:

The usual watering places are springs or wells. Springs are frequently clogged with gravel or rubbish or sometimes even with the bodies of dead animals, and it may be necessary to clean them out. For this work a shovel is needed. Wells may or may not be equipped with pumps. Frequently the pumps are broken and useless, and a rope and bucket are then necessary to obtain water. Most of the wells in this region are less than 100 feet deep, but some are deeper, and 100 feet of rope is not too much to provide. As a rule the rope and bucket at a well, if they were ever provided, soon disappear, and one should never trust the chance of finding them there. Open wells are sometimes contaminated in the same way as springs and need to be cleaned out, particularly in little-frequented places where they are unused for months at a time.

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Jewish views of poverty, wealth and charity

Over the course of Jewish history, different attitudes have been held towards poverty and wealth. Unlike Christianity, in which some strands have viewed poverty as virtuous and desirable, Jews have generally viewed poverty negatively. Jacobs and Greer assert, "In general, Jewish texts have portrayed poverty as an unjustifiable burden". In contrast to the consistently negative view of poverty, Kravitz and Olitzky describe a rapidly changing attitude towards acceptance of wealth as desirable as the Hebrews transitioned from being nomadic shepherds to farmers, then ultimately to city dwellers.

In Kol ben Levi, the author writes, "There are two trials before the individual: the test of wealth and the test of poverty... both are difficult... but the test of wealth is greater than (the test of) poverty." Cosimo Perrotta points out that servile and hired work was not scorned by the Jews of the Tanakh (Sacred Scriptures, so-called "Old Testament"). Instead, such work was protected by biblical commandments to pay workers on time and not to cheat them.

For there are poverty and wealth in every occupation. One's occupation does not cause poverty, nor does it bring wealth. All is determined based on one's merit.

Poverty

Ronald Eisenberg writes that, unlike the classical Christian view, "the Rabbis saw no virtue in poverty". Lifshitz asserts that, "very rarely in Judaism is poverty associated with righteousness". Instead of being considered virtuous and desirable, poverty was viewed as "pointless suffering". Similarly, Cosimo Perrotta points out that poverty is not admired nor is it considered a positive value by the writers of the Tanakh. However, Ethics of the Fathers states: "Such is the way of Torah: Bread with salt you shall eat, water in small measure you shall drink, and upon the ground, you shall sleep; live a life of deprivation and toil in Torah. If so you do, 'fortunate are you, and good is to you' (Psalms 128:2): Fortunate are you in this world, and it is good to you in the World To Come."

Charity

Main article: Tzedakah
Tzedakah box (Pushke), Charleston, 1820, silver, National Museum of American Jewish History.

Tzedakah ([tsedaˈka] or Ṣ'daqah [sˤəðaːˈqaː] in Classical Hebrew (Hebrew: צדקה; Arabic: صدقة), is a Hebrew word literally meaning "justice" or "righteousness" but commonly used to signify "charity", though it is a different concept than charity because tzedakah is an obligation and charity is typically understood as a spontaneous act of goodwill and a marker of generosity. It is based on the Hebrew word (צדק, tzedek) meaning "righteousness", "fairness" or "justice", and it is related to the Hebrew word Tzadik meaning "righteous" as an adjective (or "righteous individual" as a noun in the form of a substantive). In Judaism, tzedakah refers to the religious obligation to do what is right and just, which Judaism emphasises are important parts of living a spiritual life. Maimonides says that, while the second-highest form of tzedakah is to give donations anonymously to unknown recipients, the highest form is to give a gift, loan, or partnership that will result in the recipient supporting himself, instead of living upon others. Unlike philanthropy or charity, which is completely voluntary, tzedakah is seen as a religious obligation, which must be performed regardless of financial standing, and must even be performed by poor people. Tzedakah is considered to be one of the three main acts that can annul a less than favourable heavenly decree.

Obligation to avoid poverty

Lifshitz asserts that, because poverty is something to be avoided, Jews are exhorted to earn their living through gainful employment. Jewish law calls upon Jews to do everything in their power to avoid becoming a burden on others. They are to be responsible for their own welfare and not to rely on the community to provide for them. Although the wealthy are called upon to be charitable to the poor, Lifshitz insists that this does not absolve the poor from their responsibility to earn a living. He argues that the Law does not mandate redistribution of wealth and that, in Judaism, the property of the wealthy is theirs to do with entirely as they please.

Protection of the poor

Although poverty is neither virtuous nor desirable, Judaic Law commands that the poor are to be respected and protected. According to Jacobs and Greer, "The overarching Jewish attitude toward the poor can be best summed up in a single word: achikha (your brother). Jews are enjoined by the Torah to resist any temptation to view the poor as somehow different from themselves. The Tanakh sets forth numerous protections of the poor. As an example of such protections, Perotta points out that the poor were protected from being exploited when in debt. Perrotta asserts that the goal of these commandments was "not only to protect the poor but also to prevent the excessive accumulation of wealth in a few hands". In essence, the poor man is "protected by God". Kravitz and Olitzky cite the Jubilee (yoveil) and the sh'mitah as examples of commandments in the Torah designed to protect the poor.

Wealth

According to Joseph Lifshitz, "Jewish tradition insists that man can, and should, have a powerful impact on the material world." Perrotta asserts that material wealth is highly valued in the Tanakh; the Hebrews seek it and God promises to bless them with it if they will follow his commandments. Joseph Francis Kelly writes that biblical writers portray God as enabling men such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Solomon to achieve wealth and that this wealth was considered a clear sign of divine favour. Kelly notes that the Old Testament also insisted on the rich aid the poor. Prophets such as Amos castigated the rich for oppressing the poor and crushing the needy. In summary, Kelly writes, "the Old Testament saw wealth as something good, but warned the wealthy not to use their position to harm those with less. The rich had an obligation to alleviate the sufferings of the poor."

Evolution of attitudes towards wealth and poverty in the Tanakh

In contrast to the consistently negative view of poverty, Kravitz and Olitzky describe a rapidly changing attitude towards acceptance of wealth as desirable as the Hebrews transitioned from being nomadic shepherds to farmers and ultimately to city dwellers. They assert that the three divisions in the Tanakh starting with Abraham can be viewed as representing three chronological periods in Jewish history: the wilderness, the land and the city. The Hebrews are depicted in the Tanakh first as nomadic shepherds, then as farmers and finally as urban dwellers.

Kravitz and Olitzky assert that, during the time of the Patriarchs through the years in the wilderness, wealth seemed to have been "held in common with no real distinctions between the rich and the poor". However, they note that the possibility for individual wealth arose as the Hebrews transitioned from a nomadic pastoral society to a more agrarian economy. They cite early prophets such as Amos, who viewed themselves as the heirs of the pastoral tradition and spoke out against those who oppressed the poor. The transition of Jewish society to an urban economy in the Hellenistic period intensified the societal issues surrounding poverty and wealth. Kravitz and Olitzky characterize rabbinic Judaism as "the Judaism of the city" rather than that of the shepherd or the farmer. As such, rabbinical Judaism found it necessary to address the needs of business and commerce including the need to raise money and protect capital investments. As an example of such accommodations, Kravitz and Olitzky cite Hillel's invention of p'rozbol, a legal fiction to nullify the requirements of the sh'mitah. According to Joseph Lifshitz, "Jewish tradition insists that man can, and should, have a powerful impact on the material world."

Individual charity and public welfare

Aaron Levine comments that although the concept of public welfare is an integral part of the modern state, its historical origins are relatively recent, from the late 19th century. According to Levine, the key concept of the welfare state is that voluntarism alone does not sufficiently address the needs of the poor and the disadvantaged and so government steps in to complement private efforts by establishing programs to guarantee a minimum standard of living and to protect individuals against certain adverse events. Levine points out that, in Judaism, these principles can be traced back to Talmudic times (300 B.C.E. to 500 C.E.) and are embodied in Jewish Law (Halakah). Levine characterizes the Judaic approach to social welfare as a "dual anti-poverty system, consisting of private and public components".

Emergence of organized public charities

Lifshitz writes that "the concept of welfare in Jewish law rests primarily on various socio-agricultural commandments of the Torah". He cites commandments that mandate the reservation of part of the harvest for the poor. However, he notes that, although the Torah explicitly commands charity to the poor, there are very few specific commandments that promulgate charity outside of the provisions that are tied to agriculture. Lifshitz surmises that the general commandment mandating charity combined with the agriculture-related provisions may have been adequate to provide for the poor in an agrarian economy but, as Jewish society became increasingly urban in a Hellenistic society, the poor lost the lifeline formerly provided by the commandments that were tied to an agricultural society. Since the urban poor no longer had access to the fields, the commandments that mandated that a portion of the harvest to be set aside for them were no longer suitable for providing for their needs. This required the rabbis to expand the doctrine of charity to provide not only food but also money and other means of subsistence. One example of this was the institution of the custom of donating one-tenth of all profits to charity, along with the model of the agricultural tithes for the poor.

According to Lifshitz, the shift from an agrarian society to an urban one enabled a transformation of charity from the independent actions of individuals to the concerted efforts of groups working in an organized fashion. Jewish communal life was modelled after the Hellenistic polis and among the public functionaries were collectors and disbursers of communal charity (gabbaim). Lifshitz notes that even though the institutionalization of communal charity competed with "the personal and individual character of charity", this existence of communal charity did not relieve the individual from his personal obligation to support the needy. Thus, although the community collected welfare taxes from its members, this represented a minimum level of charitable giving and was not intended to supplant or displace personal charitable donations to friends or relatives.

Philanthropy

Julius Rosenwald

Philanthropy is an important part of Jewish culture, and many prominent Jews have made large donations to charitable causes. Derek Penslar speculates that the philanthropic tradition in the Jewish community originated in the early nineteenth century . Jewish community leaders provided funds to train Jewish youths in farming and handicrafts.

Retail magnate Julius Rosenwald donated a large amount of money to support the education of African-Americans. Jacob Schiff provided funds to help new Jewish émigrés from Russia and Europe settle in the United States. Marvin Perry quotes Jewish banker Otto Kahn as justifying his philanthropy by saying "I must atone for my wealth". Jerry Muller suggests that the Jewish inclination for philanthropy is partially due to a desire to offset resentment that may be felt by those not as wealthy.

In the 1860s and 1870s, Zionists asked the Rothschilds to buy the land of Palestine for the Jews. James A. de Rothschild paid for construction of the Israeli Knesset building as a gift to the State of Israel and the Supreme Court of Israel building was donated to Israel by Dorothy de Rothschild. The Rothschilds also donated to non-Jewish causes, such as an observatory for Vienna observatory.

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