Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but there have been a few disinformation campaigns against Israel in the last five decades, including the most recent accusation of committing genocide. In this week’s column, readers will test how well they know the modern history of despots and atrocities (as well as the difference between cracked wheat and a tribe of Turkic nomadic warriors). Good luck. And please, no cheating by peeking at the key before choosing an answer. 

Which mass-murdering leader killed anyone thought to be an intellectual, including doctors and nurses, and even killed those who wore glasses because they also were believed to have been intellectuals?

a) Nicolae Ceaușescu

b) Pol Pot

c) Who was Nicolae Ceaușescu? He sounds like a salad. 

d) It’s probably Bibi Netanyahu. He killed any Palestinian who wore glasses.

In which country were 500,000 to 1.2 million people killed as a result of anti-Communist purges in 1965-1966?

a) Cambodia 

b) Indonesia 

c) Myanmar 

d) What is a purge? Does it have anything to do with Palestinians?

What was “The Holodomor”?

a) An ethnic Albanian dance that, like everything else, the Jews have appropriated.

b) A secret book of spells and potions in the next “Harry Potter” series. 

c) A tool that measured how much Holo was in the atmosphere as a result of global warming. 

d) None of the above.

Which country unveiled an exciting new finger-cutting machine that it uses against prisoners convicted of robbery?

a) Iran 

b) America

c) France. This is basically a mini-guillotine. 

d) I’ll bet it was Israel. I saw a photo of a one-fingered Hamas fighter who was forced to throw a grenade with his feet. It was very sad. 

In what part of the world are women allowed to be essentially raped as part of a temporary “marriage” to a man that often lasts one night?

a) North America 

b) Anywhere colonizers still rule. So Israel and America. 

c) This sounds like a bad reality show. Is it a reality show?

d) The Middle East

In which country is it unsafe to speak or write about, or to even acknowledge a genocide that the country committed in the 20th century?

a) Rwanda

b) Turkey

c) Israel. Israelis receive life sentences if they even acknowledge the “Nakba.”

d) Seriously, I’m pretty sure it’s Israel. 

How many people were killed in only eight months during the Bangladesh Genocide in 1971?

a) Up to 250,000 people 

b) Up to 3 million people

c) 800,000 Palestinians 

d) 900,000 Palestinians. Wait, did you say Palestine or Bangladesh?

Which country was the last in the world to officially ban slavery? And in what year? 

a) Russia in 1917

b) America in 1960

c) Mauritania in 1981

d) I still don’t think Israel has officially banned slavery. Big surprise. 

Which country suffered a “Silent Holocaust” between 1981-1983 in which 160,000 civilians were killed by government forces, as part of a larger civil war between 1960-1996 in which 200,000 people were murdered?

a) Palestine 

b) Guatemala

c) One of the other countries in the Middle East. I think it starts with an “S.” 

d) One of the “-stan” countries. Trombonistan.

The “Rape of Nanking” was:

a) Something Israel did to Palestinians in 1948.

b) Something Israel did to Koreans in 1967.

c) Something Israel did to the Chinese in 1973.

d) None of the above. (Too bad. I really wanted it to be something Israel did.)

Which army exterminated the Golok people and also drowned thousands of victims in the Yellow River during the 1920s?

a) The British Army

b) The Chinese-Muslim (Hui) Ninghai Army

c) Is that the river that goes all the way “to the sea” in the slogan I chanted at graduation?

d) I know the IDF wasn’t around officially in the 1920s, but it was probably the IDF. 

Which country committed so many mass murders against Koreans between 1910-1945 that each mass murder has its own name, including the Gando Massacre, the Kantō Massacre, and the Jeamni Massacre?

a) Japan

b) China 

c) North Korea

d) None of the names of those massacres sound like Hebrew or Arabic, but I think it was Israel.

Who was Basil the Bulgar Slayer?

a) Someone named Basil who made a killer Bulgur salad. He slayed. 

b) The 1996 subpar Turkish version of “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” 

c) A Byzantine emperor who killed many Bulgur. Though I don’t understand why. Bulgur is healthy and delicious. 

d) I cannot complete this quiz at this time. Appetizers and chilled water are currently being served at my campus encampment. 

And finally, protesters are most outraged by which country?

a) Israel

b) Israel

c) Israel

d) Israel

KEY

Which mass-murdering leader killed anyone thought to be an intellectual, including doctors and nurses, and even killed those who wore glasses because they also were believed to have been intellectuals?

b) Pol Pot

The Khmer Rouge targeted those it considered intellectuals, including doctors, nurses, teachers and lawyers, and generally, those who held degrees. Refugees who survived the Cambodian Massacre by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge claimed that anyone who wore eyeglasses was targeted because they were perceived to have been intellectuals.

In which country were 500,000 to 1.2 million people killed as a result of anti-Communist purges in 1965-1966?

b) Indonesia

In 1965-1966, the Indonesian Army and various death squads, under orders from the Indonesian leader, Suharto, executed between half a million to over one million people (some estimates are up to three million) in an attempt to purge Communists from social, political, and military life. 

What was “The Holodomor”?

d) None of the above

The Holomodor was a genocide campaign by the Soviet government against Ukrainians in which between 3.5 to 5 million people died as a result of mass famine from 1932-1933.

Which country unveiled an exciting new finger-cutting machine that it uses against prisoners convicted of robbery?

a) Iran 

Iran unveiled a new finger-cutting machine in 2013 and released photos of blindfolded prisoners whose fingers were being inserted into the machine as punishment for robbery. 

In what part of the world are women allowed to be essentially raped as part of a temporary “marriage” to a man that often lasts one night?

d) The Middle East. Please Google the term “sigheh.”

In which country is it unsafe to speak or write about, or to even acknowledge, a genocide that the country committed in the 20th century?

b) Turkey

Generations of Turkish officials have continued to deny the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and all of Turkey’s political parties, with the exception of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), also deny crimes committed by Turkey against the Armenians. In recent years, Turkish writers have been exiled for speaking out about the Armenian Genocide that killed roughly 1.5 million people. 

How many people were killed in only eight months during the Bangladesh Genocide in 1971?

b) Up to 3 million people

The Pakistan Armed Forces and the Razakars ethnically cleansed Bengalis (especially Bengali Hindus) who were living in East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh. Between 200,000 – 400,000 Bengali women were also raped. 

Which country was the last in the world to officially ban slavery? And in what year? 

 c) Mauritania in 1981

Yes, 1981. Slavery was not banned there until the year that The Rolling Stones released “Start Me Up.”

Which country suffered a “Silent Holocaust” between 1981-1983 in which 160,000 civilians were killed by government forces, as part of a larger civil war beginning between 1960-1996, in which 200,000 people were murdered?

b) Guatemala

Guatemalan armed forces tortured and murdered hundreds of thousands of Maya in what is also called the Maya Genocide.

The “Rape of Nanking” was:

d) None of the above

In the span of six weeks in 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army raped and murdered victims en masse in the then-Chinese capital, Nanking, and also left the city in ruins. The Rape of Nanking is also known as the Nanking Massacre, and is considered one of the worst atrocities in the history of war. 

Which army exterminated the Golok people and also drowned thousands of victims in the Yellow River during the 1920s?

b) The Chinese-Muslim (Hui) Ninghai Army

The Chinese had been unable to exert control over the Tibetan Golok people, and the Muslim Ninghai Army exterminated large numbers of them, then called for negotiations. During those negotiations, the Chinese-Muslim (Hui) Ninghai Army slaughtered more Golok and drowned thousands of men, women and children in the Yellow River. 

Which country committed so many mass murders against Koreans between 1910-1945 that each mass murder has its own name, including the Gando Massacre, the Kantō Massacre, and the Jeamni massacre?

a) Japan

The Japanese military committed unspeakable evils against Koreans in the first half of the twentieth century. 

Who was Basil the Bulgar Slayer?

c) A Byzantine emperor who killed many Bulgar. 

Basil II Porphyrogenitus, also known as Basil the Bulgar Slayer, ruled the Byzantine Empire from 976 A.D. to 1025 A.D. Legend has it that Basil was so cruel that he blinded 99 prisoners in every group of 100, leaving one prisoner in each group with only one eye. That man would lead the others home. 

No matter your score, I hope you were inspired to learn more about the nutritional benefits of bulgur and not too disappointed that neither Walmart nor Amazon sells finger-cutting machines.

Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and weekly columnist for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Follow her on X and Instagram @TabbyRefael