Review Session

History of the Middle East

  What do all religious groups have in common?

• a common belief system

• belief in a spiritual leader

• religious practices

True or False?

Religion is a choice.

True!

Religious and ethnic groups cannot be defined

by…..

Political borders

What are the major similarities between Judaism,

Christianity and Islam?

• Monotheism

• Each religion has a holy book and spiritual leader

How does religion help explain the conflicts that exist in the M.E.?

The majority of the conflicts in this region are rooted in

religious differences

Which two sections was Islam divided into after the death of Muhammad?

Sunni and Shia

What do Shias believe?

Shias believe a family member or descendant of Muhammad should

lead Islam (Ali)

What do Sunni Muslims believe?

Sunnis believe the most qualified person should

lead Islam.

Which country do the majority of Turks (Ottomans) live in today?

Turkey

Which country was founded for the Jewish population in 1948?

Israel

The hatred or discrimination against Jewish people just for practicing Judaism is called…

Anti-Semitism

Why was Israel established in 1948?

•Zionism

•Jewish religious connections to the land

•The Holocaust during WWII

What are three major reasons for the Israeli and Palestinian conflict?

•Water

•Land

•Religion

Which two areas do most Palestinians live in today?

•The West Bank

•The Gaza Strip

What is Partitioning?

The break-up or division of land into smaller pieces

What was the largest empire in the Middle East?

The Ottoman Empire

What led to the weakening of the Ottoman Empire?

a. World War I

b. The empire’s large size

c. The spread of Christianity and Islam

Which country was created after the break-up of the Ottoman Empire?

Turkey

Who drew the boundaries of the new countries created from the Ottoman Empire

at the end of World War I?

a. Middle Eastern governments

b. European countries, mainly Great Britain and France

The Sick-man of Europe was the nickname for which region?

A. Great Britain

B. The Ottoman Empire

C. Germany

True or False?

People are born into ethnic groups, it is not a choice.

True!

What are the three major ethnic groups in the

Middle East?

Arabs, Persians & Kurds

Which ethnic group can be found mostly in Iran?

Persians

Ethnic groups share a common...

• Language

• Nationality

• Culture

Which ethnic group is found mostly in Turkey and practices Islam?

Kurds

Which event led to the U.S. becoming involved in the

Persian Gulf War?

Iraq invaded Kuwait because of oil.

Who was the founder of Al-Qaeda that claimed responsibility for the September

11th attacks on the U.S.?

Osama Bin-Laden

Which country did the U.S. invade due to their involvement with Al-

Qaeda?

Afghanistan

Who was the leader of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War?

Saddam Hussein

What is the relationship between literacy rates, GDP and the

standard of living in a country?

Usually, the higher the literacy rate and GDP, then the higher the standard of living.

Good luck!