What's Behind the Battle between Hamas and Israel?
February 29, 2008
Israel stands poised on the verge of a full blown invasion into Gaza. Hamas and other Islamic groups continue to fire rockets into the southern Israeli town of Sderot. Now, even Ashkelon, a town of 130,000 Israelis is in range and under missile attack.
Israeli air strikes try to target those Palestinian groups firing the rockets. But tragically Palestinian babies have also died in those counter attacks.
It may seem like a limited skirmish, but it could turn into a small Middle East war that could escalate even further.
The headlines scream from one day to another and from one hour to the next. But what's going on behind today's conflict? Is there a larger context for this battle that puts these daily news flashes into perspective?
Recently we interviewed Bernard Lewis, considered by many the world's leading scholar on Islam. He spoke from a historical perspective, which seems rare in this 24/7 news cycle world.
From his perspective, you can see that the Gaza/Israel battles of today are just one part of a larger, global centuries-old conflict. In this context, we need to know that this conflict doesn't just matter to the folks of Sderot and Ashkelon, it matters to you and me.
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