Why Hamas Was Inevitable

At this point, it’s hard to see a soft landing for the war in Israel, partially because all parties directly and indirectly associated with the conflict are led by people who are more in love with staying in power than they are motivated by a vision of peace for their people.

I just got off a Zoom call with some old friends who are very pro-Israel, and who are infuriated that the world narrative surrounding the conflict includes the notion that Israel has bullied the Palestinians, and is thus partially responsible for what is taking place there.

My position, though I didn’t even think about uttering a word of it during that call, is that this type of intractable situation is the only possible result that can derive from people living in close proximity to one another who have divergent viewpoints on God.

Imagine that human civilization didn’t evolve with religion at its core.  Imagine that, instead of looking into the sky in search of an omnipotent being, we developed a way of thinking about things that was based on evidence rather than faith and the insane idea that the God of people A is better than the God of people B.

Of course, that didn’t happen, and now we face the inevitable result: Hamas, Israel, Palestine, Hezbollah, Iran, and Saudi Arabia –all with no end in sight.