Obsessing about Israel?

If you can't stop obsessing about Israel, test your ignorance and name the country described.

1. Starting in 1871 European colonists flooded into this country displacing its native population through war and by seizing native land or purchasing it unfairly. Only in the 1950s did it end its white only immigration policy, and today its population is still 70% European. Only in 1975 did they make the native language a second official language of the country.

2. This ethnically pure democratic country has historically maintained tight controls over immigration, prioritizing cultural homogeneity and national security. As the result of a 35-year occupation of a neighboring country in the early 20th century, many individuals were forcibly relocated here. Today, there are now 350K descendants of these displaced people who are today denied citizenship.

3. This western democracy refuses to recognize primarily Muslim Kosovo’s independence from Serbia because it didn’t want other countries to recognize an independence movement in their own country.

4. This democracy has 20 miles of separation barriers in towns to separate religious communities from attacking one another. These sections of wall remain despite a historic peace process concluded in the 1990s.

5. This western democracy bans Muslim girls/women from wearing hijabs in schools, universities and government offices. It also bans full-face veils anywhere in public.

6. This NATO ally has historically repressed its largest minority, which constitutes of 18% of the population, by prohibiting the public use of their language, changing the names of their villages, detaining leaders accused of terrorism, censoring their media outlets and persecuting those who fly their national flag.

7. This country, born of an anti-colonial war, criminalizes calls for self-determination by an ancient indigenous minority in its mountainous north, designates their independence movement as “terrorist,” suppresses their language and symbols, and insists that colonial-era borders are sacred when that minority asks for a referendum?

8. Since its independence the Prime Ministers of this small country have spoken 6 times before joint sessions of Congress. This nation, known for its deep religious heritage and picturesque landscapes, maintains a uniquely close and influential relationship with the United States, largely due to a significant diaspora community, including several U.S. Presidents with ancestry from this country.

9. Over the last decade this American ally received $13B in military aid from the United States despite great concerns about its human rights record, which includes political repression at home and strikes against Islamist militants that have resulted in a thousands of civilian deaths.

10. This stateless Middle Eastern people were promised a homeland after the end WWI. But their hopes were crushed when the British changed their minds, leaving them the largest stateless people in the world. Today they fight for their freedom on multiple fronts.

11. This ancient Middle Eastern people was abandoned by the international community when attacked by thousands of Islamist terrorists. 5k of their community were executed, 7k enslaved and 300k displaced. The only people who came to their defense were armed groups belonging to a fellow stateless people.

12. This country's democratically elected leader has been prime minister for over a decade during which time the country has embraced nationalism and moved sharply to the right. It has been unable or unwilling to stop vigilante mobs from attacking and vandalizing hundreds of mosques.

13. Due to security fears concerning its larger next-door neighbor, this NATO member country has full conscription for men who also serve in the reserves until the age of 50. The country spends 2.3% of its budget on defense and maintains a strong local arms industry primarily to supply its military, leading some to describe it as a 'militarized society.'

14. Since the 1950s this country has been accused of occupying an entire nation of 6.7M and suppressing its distinct and ancient culture and history. It also lays claim to the entirety of another neighbor’s territory, staging threatening war games and refusing to recognize its independence for the last 75 years.

15. Despite UN calls for a ceasefire and insistence on allowing humanitarian aid, this country continues to wage a brutal war against rebels from an ethnic minority that have thus far resulted in 150K dead, 8M displaced and millions on the verge of famine.

Hint: Only two of them begin with the letter "I" and both of those use English as one of their official languages.

The world is complicated when it comes to borders, citizenship and rights. Obsessing about one country as if it’s the source of the world’s problems solves absolutely nothing. But mostly it’s to make everyone recognize how little they know and understand about the world.