Viewed from a historical perspective the events unfolding in Gaza are part of an ongoing struggle between Israel and the Arab world that has played out repeatedly over the past fifty years. What distinguishes the current situation from those that have preceded it is the broader implications for the outcome of the struggle and why, however horrific the effects upon both Israelis and Palestinians, the conflict must continue until Israel succeeds. The region as a whole has since Hussein was removed from power, convulsed with violent conflict that has engulfed Syria, Egypt and Iraq pitting Sunni against Shiite in a battle for the heart and soul of the Arab world. One secular, the other extreme in its fundamentalist view of Islam's as a global power, the Middle East has been become a battle field at which the outcome of the region, including that of Israel, is at stake. It is, in my view, not a coincidence that the most recent fight between Hamas and Israel has coincided with the rise of extreme and violent fundamentalist Islam in the body of ISIS which, with surgical precision, has sliced out large sections of both Syria and Iraq, set up governance based upon an extreme interpretation of Sharia Law with aspirations for a more broad-based imposition of fundamentalist Islam throughout the region. The fact that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE have chosen not to intervene and, in fact, have supported Israel's actions speaks volumes about the regional fear that the Hamas uprising represents an attempt by those seeking to impose Sharia throughout the region to establish yet another staging point from which ISIS and it's like can seek to attack and overthrow the more moderate and secular Arab governments in the region.
Certainly losing Gaza to the extremists who are spreading like a cancer through vast portions of Iraq and Syria would not only pose a threat to moderate Arab states neighboring Israel but to Israel itself. Though distant in miles the threat posed to the west should Israel not succeed is real and cannot be ignored. That the military response by Israel has yielded such horrific results amongst the civilian population should not dissuade or distract Israel and it's supporters in the West from the broader implications of what has been happening in the Middle East since Hussein's removal.
