Think you know about Israel and Gaza?
Take this quiz to find out
If you are protesting Israel or supporting those who do, then presumably you are informed about the facts on the ground and aren’t simply being swayed by a popular narrative. Let’s put your knowledge to the test. I’ve put together a list of 21 multiple choice questions about Israel and the Israel-Palestinian conflict. See how many you can get right. There is no shame in not knowing the answers. I didn’t know the answers to most of these questions 10 years ago. The only problem is if you don’t know the answers and yet still take a strong, but uninformed position one way or the other. These aren’t the only facts, but these are all relevant facts.
For each question, you can see the answer by hovering your cursor over the superscript next to “ANSWER” (or on mobile clicking the superscript number).
1. How did Jews originally come to possess land in Israel?
A. They were the indigenous people of the land
B. They were not the first to settle the land, but they are the oldest still existing group that did
C. They colonized the land in violent skirmishes with Arabs from 1880 to 1930
D. They bought the land legally from individual Arabs over a period of about 50 years starting in 1880
ANSWER?1
2. Who colonized the land now in dispute (Israel + Palestinian Territories)?
A. The Romans
B. The Arabs
C. The Ottoman Empire
D. The British
ANSWER2
3. When did the first Arab-Israel violence take place?
A. In 1920, when Arabs killed 5 Jews in the Nebi Musa riots
B. In 1920, when Jews killed 5 Arabs in the Nebi Musa riots
C. In 1947, when Arabs killed 7 Jews at Kfar Sirkin
D. In 1947, when Jews killed 7 Arabs at Kfar Sirkin
ANSWER?3
4. When were the Arabs first offered a two-state solution
A. 1937
B. 1948
C. 2000
D. 2007
ANSWER?4
5. Hamas is the ruling government of Gaza. The Hamas charter calls for:
A. A two-state solution that fairly distributes the land
B. A two-state solution that gives 80% of the land to Palestinians and only 20% of Jews
C. For a continued Jewish state of Israel, but with the right of return
D. The murder of all Jews
ANSWER?5
6. Who were the first Palestinians
A. Romans in 2nd century BC
B. Arabs during the Ottoman Empire
C. Jews in the 1920s and 1930s
D. Arabs in the 1920s and 1930s
ANSWER?6
7. Which country were Jews exiled from?
A. England
B. Switzerland
C. Hungary
D. Portugal
ANSWER?7
8. There about 16 million Jews in the world. Based on the number of Jews alive in the 2nd century, approximately how many Jews would there be today if they had not been hunted and murdered by various groups over the past 2000 years?
A. 16 million
B. 25 million
C. 75 million
D. 200 million
ANSWER?8
9. Many pro-Palestinian protesters chant in Arabic “من المية للمية فلسطين عربية” (phonetically: min el-maiyeh lel mayieh, Falastin arabieh). What does this translate to?
A. From the river to the sea
B. From the river to the sea, two people united
C. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free
D. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be Arab
ANSWER?9
10. What percent of Jews were exiled from Arab countries in 1948?
A. 20%
B. 50%
C. 75%
D. 90%
ANSWER?10
11. How many rockets have Arab groups first into Israel since 2000
A. 350
B. 800
C. 2,000
D. 30,000
ANSWER?11
12. How many Israeli civilians were wounded or killed by terrorist attacks in the Second Intifada?
A. 2500
B. 4500
C. 6500
D. 8500
ANSWER?12
13. What percent of Israeli citizens are ‘white’?
A. 20%
B. 40%
C. 60%
D. 80%
ANSWER?13
14. How many legal Israeli settlements are there in the West Bank?
A. 0
B. 10
C. 50
D. 150
ANSWER?14
15. Did the Jewish leaders plan for the transfer of most Arab residents to other Arab countries which set in motion the Nakba?
A. Yes
B. No
ANSWER?15
16. When was the original Palestinian state founded?
A. 1885
B. 1939
C. 1948
D. 1967
ANSWER?16
17. In which year did Arab groups attack Israel when there was no war or when there was a ceasefire agreement?
A. 1948
B. 1973
C. 2000
D. 2023
ANSWER?17
18. The founding of which state below is different from the others
A. The founding of Lebanon
B. The founding of Jordan
C. The founding of Israel
D. The founding of Pakistan
ANSWER?18
19. The percentage of the world population that is Jewish
A. 0.2%
B. 1.4%
C. 2.0%
D. 10%
E. 30%
ANSWER?19
20. When did Israel occupy Gaza?
A. From 1947 to the present
B. From 1947 until October 7, 2023
C. From 1967 to 2005
D. From 1967 to 2023
ANSWER?20
21. Which tactics were used by Israel after October 7th, to warn Gazans to leave areas that were going to be attacked?
A. Drones with loud speakers announced to areas that attacks were coming
B. 7 million flyers were dropped in regions that were to be attacked
C. 13 million text messages were sent to residents of these areas
D. 15 million voicemails were left on the phones of residents of these areas
ANSWER?21
The correct answer is B. Many believe Jews are indigenous to Israel, but when the Jews arrived there from Ur (now Iraq), there were already other Canaanite groups like the Hittites and Amorites, living there. But of groups still existing today, Jews are the oldest inhabitants of the region. Critically, Jews did not use violence to settle the land from the 1880s to the 1930s, instead buying the land in legal transactions with Arab landholders over 50+ years starting in the 1880s. In 1947 and 1948, 750,000 Palestinians left their homes (i.e. the Nakba). They left for multiple reasons as there was an ongoing civil war between Arabs and Jews, but there is little doubt that many were forced out by Jewish military groups. Ultimately, for the Jews, this was less about gaining land and more about securing a Jewish majority in Israel.
Trick question. Everyone one of these groups did. The Romans did almost 2000 years ago. The Arabs did when they colonized the entire Middle East in the 7th century. The Ottomans did in the 1500s. And the British were granted control of the region after WWI.
The correct answer is A. The first modern bloodshed between Jews and Arabs occurred in the Nebi Musa riots (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1920_Nebi_Musa_riots) when 5 Jews were killed by Arabs (and many more were injured). An Arab teacher recounted the riot this way: [A] riot broke out, the people began to run about and stones were thrown at the Jews. The shops were closed and there were screams. … I saw a Zionist soldier covered in dust and blood. … Afterwards, I saw one Hebronite approach a Jewish shoeshine boy, who hid behind a sack in one of the wall's comers next to Jaffa Gate, and take his box and beat him over the head. He screamed and began to run, his head bleeding and the Hebronite left him and returned to the procession. … The riot reached its zenith. All shouted, "Muhammad's religion was born with the sword"
Bonus fact: While C is not the correct answer, this also occurred and was the first bloodshed that initiated the Arab-Jewish civil war that immediately preceded the establishment of Israel in 1948. Once the U.N. declared that it supported a partition plan (Nov 29) that included the Jewish state of Israel, Arabs began the civil war with murder of Jews riding on a bus on Nov 30 at Kfar Sirkin.
The correct answer is A when the Peel commission offered a two state solution that called for Arabs to get approximately 80% of the land, despite being 70% of the population and for Jews to get 20% of the land, despite being 30% of the population. Jews agreed and the Arabs said ‘no’ because they felt that despite Jews being 30% of the population, they deserved nothing. Also, answers B, C, and D are each dates when other two-state solutions were offered to the Arab population.
The correct answer is D. Article 7 of the Hamas charter from 1988 includes the passage: “The hour of judgment shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, so that the Jews hide behind trees and stones, and each tree and stone will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him”. They do not acknowledge the right of Jews to have any state at all.
The best answer is C. The land was first called Palestina by the Romans when they conquered and exiled the Jews in the 2nd century as a reference to the Philistines who had once lived there. But no one was called a Palestinian until the 1920s. Technically, the British sometimes referred to everyone who lived there as Palestinians, but early on, only Jews were thought of as Palestinians and the Arabs rejected the British label, considering themselves Arabs, not Palestinians. Jews, for instance, published a newspaper in Jerusalem called the Palestinian Post, while Arabs primarily identified with the city they lived in, rather than with the regional identity of being Palestinian. Arabs only commonly referred to themselves as Palestinian after the founding of Israel in 1948 and much more so with the founding of The Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964.
Trick question. Jews were expelled from each of these countries and many more.
The correct answer is D (between 190 and 200 million). There were approximately 4 million Jews when Israel was conquered by the Romans, but the Jewish population has only increased fourfold since then while the world population has increased fifty times over.
The correct answer is D. Only in English do people chant “Palestine will be free.” The original Arabic is clear that the plan is not to share the land with Jews but for them to all be removed from Israel.
The correct answer is D. In most Arab countries 100% of Jews were exiled and were forced to leave without any of their belongings.
The answer is D. More than 10,000 rockets have been fired at Israel in the last year alone.
The correct answer is C. The Second Intifada (2000-2005) was a violent campaign waged by Arab groups against Israeli civilians often setting off bombs on buses, in markets, and night clubs. Around 900 Israelis were killed and another 5600 were injured. Globalize the Intifada is a call for more violence along these lines.
The correct answer is B. Despite claims of Israel being a “white oppressor,” only 35-40% of Israeli citizens are white. Of the Israeli Jews, 40-45% are from Middle Eastern and North African heritage, having no links to Europe, and 22% of Israeli citizens are Arab.
The correct answer is A. Under international law, none of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are legal.
This is also a trick question without a clear answer. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris (who was vilified in Israel for his findings), lots of documentary evidence shows that throughout the 1930s, Jewish leaders discussed the concept of ‘transfer’ which would amount to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. These leaders knew a new Jewish state was unsustainable with an Arab majority. They discussed paying to help resettle Arab farmers to Iraq who needed more farmers at the time. However, no formal policy was ever put in place and no plan was carried out during the unexpected Arab uprising (1947) and Arab-Israel war (1948). Many Arabs left to avoid the civil war that had broken out. Many others left because they were forced to by Israeli forces. And some left because Arab leaders told them to leave temporarily and then to return after Arabs had defeated Israel.
Trick question. There has never been a Palestinian or Arab state where Israel now stands. This land was long controlled by different empires, but there was never a formal Palestinian state.
Trick question. Arab groups initiated unprovoked attacks in each of these years.
The correct answer is B, but only sort of. Britain and France used the exact same procedures to create sovereign states in each of these four countries in the 1940s. But Lebanon, Israel, and Pakistan are more similar in that each was created in order to carve out a country with a religious majority from a larger country where that group was a persecuted religious minority. Lebanon was carved off from Syria to create a country with a Christian majority. Pakistan was carved off from India to create a country with a Muslim majority. Israel was similarly created to produce a country with a Jewish majority. In contrast, Jordan was founded as Muslim majority country without consideration for other religious groups.
Despite popular belief, Jews are only 0.2% percent of the population (answer A). They are also only 1.4% (answer B) of the population of the Middle East (while Arabs represent 96%) making the notion of Jewish oppression of Arabs far more questionable. America is only 2% Jewish (answer C). One poll found that people thought 10% (answer D) of the world population was Jewish which is 20x the true answer (0.2%). Similarly, another poll (https://bit.ly/3Umre53) found that Americans think the U.S. is 30% Jewish (answer E) which is 15x the true answer (2%). To put the population demographics in context, there are about 47 million African-Americans in the United States. That is three times of the entire population of Jews in the world.
The correct answer is C. After the 1967 war, Israel acquired land in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Israel unilaterally left Gaza in 2005. A year later, Gazans elected Hamas, a group that overtly calls for the murder of all Jews, to run their government.
The correct answer is all of the above. Israel did each of these things and more as detailed here: https://bit.ly/3xZWYFF . In the history of the world, no country engaged in genocide has done any of these things to protect the civilians of a population they were trying to eliminate
Thank you. This is a great teaching tool.