Middle East Map Quiz

Woot 3:31

2:43 ;D

2:32

But, did you answer correctly?

3:31

Does this mean Jetpunk is changing its stance toward Palestine?

Agreed!

There's nothing political about accepting reality, and the reality is that Palestine is recognised as a country by most (137 of 196; 70%) of the world's countries. That recognition level is far greater than Kosovo (108) or Taiwan (23). It also has UN observer status, which is the same UN status as Vatican City, unlike Kosovo and Taiwan, which have no UN status at all.

I support the independence of Palestine, (I am not anti-Semitic, by the way). However, currently Palestine does not function as a country, as it has no control over foreign affairs, let alone its own land. It is more of an occupied territory at the moment. It's inclusion in the test makes sense, however, (similar to French Guiana and the Falklands, or Islas Malvinas, in the South American Map Quiz, and the inclusion French Polynesia and New Caledonia in the Oceanian version, Albeit with a much different situation).

Jiaozira is right. Palestine is not a country. Maybe it should be, maybe not, but right now it isn't.

Who gets to call it the Middle East anyway? (A Briton launched the term in the 1800's). To Americans, it's the Far East, to Japanese, it's the Middle West, and to a Somalian, the Near North. I guess an Iranian just calls it Here.

Taiwan, Kosovo and Vatican city are better recognized than the Palestine.

If we're accepting reality then Palestine is not a country whether it has won any popularity contests at the UN lately or not. And there's nothing wrong with the term "Middle East"- yes, it's Eurocentric. But the language that we are typing in right now is a European language, with conventions handed down through the centuries. This is not a problem in need of correcting. The names we use for continents are also derived from the same linguistic tradition and are fine so long as people speaking the same language understand what they mean.

Well, most countries that don't count Taiwan are just trying to stay on the good side of China, so that's not a good comparison to make.

I'm American and I've never heard someone call it the far east.

Jerry, Palestine has UN observer status, which is the same as the Vatican, but the Vatican could very well be a country if it decided to, it has decided to be an observer.

I agree completely. It's good to see someone who looks at both sides before speaking.

Completely true!

@Beasley2K. Wow, that comment shows such a superior outlook on the world, that it borders on comedy.

@Beasley2K Just because US and UK (two of the most ideologically confused countries in the world) don't recognise Palestine, that doesn't mean it's not a country. More countries recognise it than don't. Using that argument alone there's a strong case for saying that it is its own state.

@Impiorium: Just out of curiosity, is Sweden not a "first world" country according to your definition? Recognized the State of Palestine on October 30th, 2014.

Impiorum is wrong, but in fairness, Sweden is the *only* one that does, unless you want to count Iceland or Cyprus. Literally every other country in the world that officially recognizes the statehood of Palestine is 2nd or 3rd world. I'm using the Cold War understanding of these terms because it's relevant (as Palestinian recognition is about politics and religion more than reality) and more easily understood in this case. Those countries that were in the Soviet sphere of influence are 2nd world, those in the American sphere are 1st world, those that were deemed politically and strategically insignificant are 3rd world.
These countries fall into one of four categories. 1. Muslim-majority countries who hate Jews. 2. Rogue or Russian-friendly countries that want to give the finger to the USA and have conflated US and Israeli interests. 3. Developing countries in Africa and Latin America that have bought in to the false narrative that Israeli nationalism = European colonialism.

4. countries in Asia that simply don't care and aren't invested.

Sweden and Iceland joining the party recently represents an emerging 5th category: liberal countries that feel like Palestinians are being oppressed, and that recognizing the PNA is somehow the moral thing to do.

I don't believe that the narrative is even close to being so simple. It's complicated. Anyone peddling a simple narrative of good guys and bad guys or oppressed and oppressor are either ignorant or trying to mislead you. Adding to that complication is that I'm never sure exactly what people mean when they say "Palestinian."

Further, I don't think that pushing this narrative is conducive to the goal of ending conflict or human suffering in the region. I think it's in fact very counter-productive.

if the jetpunk community accepts Taiwan and Kosovo's independence it would generally make sense to accept Palestine's as well. And the creator of the quiz called it the Palestinian territories, not Palestine. It is recognized on an international level unlike Kurdistan and South Ossetia. The majority of the international community on the internet recognizes Palestine's independence, It's just the United States and those of the Jewish community who don't. Face the facts and accept that eventually Palestine will be a UN member nation, and a full-fledged country.

@Beasley2K You say Kosovo and Taiwan are countries but Palestine isn't. Yet more countries recognise Palestine (136) than recognise Taiwan (20) and Kosovo (111) combined... so what you are arguing makes no sense.

Taiwan is mainly not recognized to to the power of China, Kosovo acts more independent, but Palestine doesn't have very much control over a government. Also this comment thread was originally about not taking a side and that quickly dissolved.

why does it say territories it is a country

I love how some arguments are a whole paragraph and some are just 10 words

Palestine. The 53rd state

It is really hard to tell what is a country and what is water. Can you do something about it?

If a country is selected it is dark blue, but the water is light blue. Do you mean that?

Narnia (if you labelled it on a map) is everywhere in the world as according to the books you can enter it from anywhere, as long as you have a way of entering

Why can't I like this comment?

You can, but you don't need to click a button marked "like" to like something! Do something revolutionary, like posting a comment saying "I like that", using whole real words, instead.

GENIUS AT WORK

I think its an example of anti-Narnia bias by the cabal. They're trying to push an agenda that involves convincing us that Narnia doesn't exist.

We are the resistance.

Narnia is the Latin name for an ancient city (now closer to a village) in Italy called Narni in Italian. I have been there. So It shouldn't be on the Middle East map quiz. All for adding it to the European one though.

How old are you?

I have every country memorized except the caribbean, that should be fun!

The Middle East is not a continent so there's no conflict with including African countries.

This only includes Palestine because they have to include something in that area, and whatever they put would cause a riot in the comments, which it did. Also the Middle East is a region, like Scandinavia or The Balkans, except it is better know and has is a bit less defined. Some people include Iran or the Caucasus, even Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti have made it in there sometimes.

Easy way to remember it is Yemen and then Oman to the right

Done with 03:40 left. My best time.

after lots of frustrating 3:39's and 3:40's I finally got a single 3:41. Please comment if you have gotten a better score.

3:42! I did it! Nice competing with you though.

The comments are sometimes even better.

On my first try, I got a 100% in 1:35

Egypt is not Middle East. It is African country.

The parts east of the sued canal are part of Asia Minor according to some.

Suez* Spellcheck, people!

Everyone is arguing that the terrorist run Palestinian Territories are a country when it isn't, whereas poor old Islamic State doesn't even get a mention. They've got their own flag, government, army, tax-raising powers and a multi-billion dollar oil business that they run entirely on their own. Surely if one bunch of bandits get a mention because they are autonomous then others should too.

This is a fair point. Islamic State has a much better claim to sovereignty than Palestine. But nobody has recognized them because they are hated by literally everyone. State recognition often has more to do with popularity, sympathy, and (of course) politics than actual real sovereignty.
However, that said, Palestine has a (disputed, fragmented) government, they have a flag, they collect some tax revenue and exercise some civic authority, to varying degrees in different unconnected places. What Daesh most notably has that "Palestine" lacks is control over their own borders and territory, and a stable and centralized undisputed government.

kalbahamut i swear half the people on jetpunk want to buy you a beer or scotch

The other half want to poison that beer or scotch?

btw I put Islamic State and Palestine both on my World Leaders #2 Quiz here

I second cameron's comment. Jetpunk is a better place with your posts. They should be even highlighted.

Very few countries recognize the Islamic State, but PT is recognized by more countries then Taiwan.

Literally no country recognizes the Islamic State. They have no friends, only enemies. Even AlQaeda and the Taleban hate them.

Really? I thought corrupt countries would, but I guess it makes sense.

Can we have some interesting philosophical debates on her please? 'Wow' does not show the level of intelligence all JetPunkers clearly possess in abundance.

WOW is so many things to so many people. Turned upside down it is MOM. Turned on one side it is 3O3, and on the other side it is EOE. What other word is so versatile, so heartwarming, yet so simple? I could philosophize all day about those three beautiful letters. However, I am a mother so I could be prejudiced in its favor. Let the debates begin.

Here*. Wow.

Palestine is recongized by more countries than Taiwan.

Finished with 3:30 remaining. I think I'm the best?

Did it a second faster than you ;-)

I did it 10 seconds faster than you :P

did it 23 seconds faster than u ;)

am i

of course i am

Egypt is in Africa, not the Middle East. This may need to be changed

Got all right on my first try, and after I few attempts I did it in 29 seconds... pretty satisfied :)

ez

100% with 2:54 left

Egypt is actually considered in both Africa and Asia.

Schlomohoward, That is actually your opinion!

bobthebuilder101, are you Mikayla?

Done with 3:50 remaining

3:12 seconds left

done with 3:06s remaining enough for a 12 year child

you can just click on "retake quiz" or refresh the page...

I do that too. Just refresh the site. It's not like QM decided to randomly make quizzes start automatically. There's a pattern.

"Watching the news might help you place these countries on the map." Wow. Just wow.

Another wow! Yippee!

I know! I'm SO offended by honest descriptions of reality!

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo.

Can you remove the extra countries not part of the quiz like Sudan, Libya and others as they are getting in the way of the answers.

2:23, great quiz!

how do you make a map quiz

Easy

All correct with 2:03 remaining at 8:02:07 PM on February 9, 2019.

free palestine is all im gonna say

Why not? It's got a long history of being tied to these other countries.

2:24 :)

which is still wrong anyway.

Egypt is already mentioned as an African nation