Jordan’s King Abdullah’s visiting Canada, where one of his messages (see this Globe & Mail interview, where he talks about “connecting the dots”) is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the root of all other Mideast conflicts. Edmonton Sun columnist Mindelle Jacobs disagrees with what’s also referred to as the “domino theory”:
Without peace between Israelis and Palestinians, there could be decades more violence around the world, he warned. Little of the terrorism afflicting the planet has anything to do with Israel, however. Muslims are slaughtering Muslims – and whoever else gets in the way – in a number of countries, and Jews aren’t on the agenda.
In fact, the glee with which Sunni extremists are murdering Shiites in Iraq suggests they hate their fellow Muslims much more than they hate Jews. Even Sunnis aren’t safe. Last month, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Baghdad hotel, killing 13 people, including four moderate Sunni tribal chiefs.
Sunni terrorists are also blowing up mosques and killing Iraqi troops and police officers in a bid to start a civil war. No doubt, there are some who will find a way to blame this Muslim vs. Muslim bloodletting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber recently killed 35 police instructors and wounded more than 50. It’s hard to imagine, though, that he had Palestinians on his mind when he boarded the bus with explosives strapped to his chest.
Robert Satloff, Daled Amos, and other events also debunk the idea.
