The Islamic world’s failure spawned ISIL

Israel’s operation against Gaza is nothing but brutal and indiscriminate collective punishment against the Palestinians and is deplorable. The pictures we see in the press of celebrating Israelis as bombs fall on the people of Gaza are reminiscent of another era when the Jews were on the receiving end, but this appears lost on Israelis today.

The Gaza operation has also provided the Islamic world in general another opportunity to rail against the West while conveniently overlooking the lack of sympathy of Egypt and Saudi Arabia for Hamas, for example.

The Israeli operation has also provided Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with an opportunity to use the Palestinian issue in his presidential campaign. It has also enabled him to drag attention away from the 49 Turkish citizens, including the consul general, kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Mosul over a month ago, who remain in captivity.

 Israel’s Gaza operation is a film we know. We know it will end with a large number of innocent Palestinians killed or maimed and with little gained by Israel in the end. We also know that the Arab world will do little for the Palestinians in the end.

The important thing today, however, is the fact that the Islamic world in general - and Arab countries in particular - conveniently overlook the Pandora’s Box opened for them in Iraq and Syria.

The brutal truth for the Arabs, and unfortunately for the Palestinians, is that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will appear of secondary importance when compared to the potential consequences of developments in those countries where thousands of Muslims are being killed by Muslims.

Many people in Islamic countries and in Turkey claim...