20th Century Middle East Trivia Quiz

Answer: They all have one God

These three religions all developed in the Middle East. They have all divided into different sects, the Sunni and Shi'ite are sects of Islam.

Answer: WWI and WWII

Before this, many empires throughout history had left their mark in the Middle East. Some of these are the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, Safauidi, and West European nations during the age of imperialism.

Answer: Koran

Sunnite and Shiite interpret the Koran differently. The law has been interpreted to support the idea that women are inferior to men (which is completely incorrect!)

Answer: At the least, the hair, legs and arms must be covered

Moreover, clothing must be loose-fitting.

Some women in the Middle Eastern big cities are no longer wearing the veil. Many Muslims think these changes are bad. It varies from country to country. Many Turkish women dress more like women in western countries, along with women from Jordan, the UAE, Bahrain, and some other countries in the region.

Answer: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

OPEC was founded by five countries in 1960 - Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. It has expanded considerably since then.

Answer: Fundamentalism

Western culture and Islamic religion have clashed since the 1970s. Islamic fundamentalists want Islamic law instead of secular law - they want "law of the book" to be "the law of the land", too.

Answer: Atatürk

This strained relations with neighboring countries. Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak were all Egyptian leaders.

Answer: Sadat

Sadat began friendly relations with western nations and signed a peace treaty with Israel. He was then assassintated and succeeded by Mubarak.

Answer: Egypt

At that time, all the other Arab countries hated Israel because Palestinians were kicked out of their land which was given to the Israelis after WWII. In 1994 Jordan also signed a peace treaty with Israel.

Answer: Palestine Liberation Organization

The PLO was supported by Muslims in Lebanon, but Christians thought they were dangerous. Earlier, Christians and Muslims lived together in Lebanon. Then Muslims gained a majority, and the Christians still ran the government. Civil war broke out in 1975, which ended in 1990 with a Syrian-backed Christian president who Muslims liked.

Answer: Savak

Savak hunted down and arrested the Shah's critics. He tried reforms, but the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. He eventually fled Iran when he could no longer suppress opposition.

Answer: Khomeini

Khomeini came to power, and his clergy restored Islamic law and banned western music and dancing. He died in 1989, and Iran's economy was drained due to wars with Iraq.

Answer: False

Britain controlled Palestine at that time. The Arabs rejected the idea of Israel becoming a country.

Answer: True

It is arguably the only democracy in the Middle East. Most of the Middle East is not a democracy.

Answer: Kibbutz

These help Israel produce the amount of goods that they need.

Answer: it trebled its size

Even after this Arabs refused to recognize Israel. Israel got the Golan heights from Syria, the Arab half of Jerusalem, and the West Bank from Jordan. Also, Israel took the Gaza strip and the Sinai Peninsula.

Answer: Golan Heights

The Arab countries keep attacking Israel, and Israel keeps winning.

Answer: Suez Canal

In the attempt by Britain and France to regain the Suez Canal by force, there was collusion between Israel, Britain and France, though this was strenuously denied at the time.

Answer: Begin

Other Arab countries were not very happy with Egypt for doing this. As already noted, Egypt and Jordan are the only Middle Eastern countries to have made peace with Israel.

Answer: True

He has also been used as a symbol of the Palestinians since the 1970s.