Middle East Review Guide
Religions
1) Define monotheism.
2) Define fundamentalism.
3) Which is the largest
monotheistic religion today?
4) Which is the oldest
monotheistic religion today?
5) Which is the largest growing
monotheistic religion today?
6) The three main monotheistic
religions trace their ancestries
back to which individual?
7) What region is considered
sacred land to all three religions?
(the region, not a city)
8) How do Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam view Jesus differently?
9) What is the holy scripture for
Judaism?
10) What is the covenant in
Judaism?
11) What was the Diaspora?
12) What is the importance of the
Western Wall and where is it
located?
13) How does Christianity differ
from Judaism?
14) What is the holy scripture for
Christianity?
15) What are some major divisions
of Christianity today?
16) Who is the founder of Islam
and what does Islam mean?
17) What are the Five Pillars of
Islam?
18) What is a mosque?
19) What is the sacred scripture of
Islam and what language is it
written in?
20) Toward which city do Muslims
pray and make their
pilgrimage/hajj?
21) What is the Ka’aba and where is
it located?
22) Where is the Dome of the Rock
located?
23) What is shari’a law?
24) What is the Sunna?
25) Why was there a division in
Islam after Muhammad’s death?
26) What are the two major
divisions of Islam and how do they
differ? Which is more dominant?
27) What is jihad?
2) What is the significance of
Theodore Herzl?
3) What territories are considered
part of the Palestinian region?
Arab-Israeli Conflict
1) What is Zionism?
4) What was the Balfour
Declaration?
5) When and how does Israel gain
statehood?
6) Who was David Ben Gurion?
7) Who attacks Israel within one
day of its statehood and why?
8) Explain the Six Day War.
9) Explain the Yom Kippur War.
10) What is the PLO and its goal?
11) Who was Yasir Arafat?
12) What was the significance of
the Camp David Accords 1979?
Who participated?
13) Who is Hamas and what is its
goal?
14) What is the Hezbollah and what 15) Explain the intifada (who,
is its goal?
where, why)
16) Who is Mahmoud Abbas?
17) Who is the current Prime
Minister of Israel?
18) What happened to Palestine in
the United Nations this past Nov.
2012?
2) Who was Reza Shah and what
dynasty does he begin?
3) What countries occupy Iran in
WWII? What happens to Reza
Shah?
4) Explain why there are riots over
oil in Iran after WWII.
5) What role does Mohammad
Mossadegh have in the oil
problems?
6) How do the U.S and Britain deal
with Mossadegh (1953) and why?
7) How does Reza Shah rule Iran
from 1953-1960? Explain.
8) Is the Shah pro-West or antiWest? Is he supported or opposed
by the U.S./Britain?
9) What was the White Revolution?
Explain its purpose.
10) What is an Ayatollah?
11) How does Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini criticize the Shah? Is he
pro-West or anti-West? How does
the shah react to his criticisms?
12) How do the people react to
Ayatollah Khomeini’s exile?
Iran
1) What countries influence Iran in
19th and 20th centuries? What
influences do they have?
13) Explain the Iranian Revolution
of 1979 and who takes power in
1979.
14) What government is Iran now
considered? Explain the name, title
of Ayatollah Khomeini, and
theocracy.
15) Why are Americans taken
hostage in 1979? How long are they
hostages? When are they released
and who is the U.S. president at the
time?
16) Who is the leader of Iraq who
invades Iran and why does the
invasion occur?
17) What is the importance of the
U.S.S. Vincennes?
18) Who succeeds Ayatollah
Khomeini as the “Supreme Leader”
Iran after his death (and is current
religious leader)?
19) Who is the current president of
Iran? What are his attitudes
towards the U.S.? Israel?
20) What did Pres. George W. Bush
consider Iran to be a part of in a
speech made in 2002?
21) What technology is Iran
currently trying to develop, causing
controversy?