Is the Israeli-Hamas War a prelude to World War III?

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As the Israeli-Hamas War enters its third week, the question that begs asking is whether the deadly regional conflict can turn into a wider war, World War III if you will, one that could involve nuclear weapons and the end of life as we know it?

Hobbservation: Yes, it very well could...

Lest we forget that during the early 20th Century, what eventually became known as World War I and World War II both started off small, but grew into massive wars due to alliances made between the dominant colonial powers in Europe and the United States. 

In July of 1914, when Austria-Hungary's Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, were assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, within weeks, the fight soon involved the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire in a coalition that became known as the Central Powers, fighting against Great Britain, France, and Russia in a coalition known as the Allies.

Popular cartoon that appeared in newspapers around the globe following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on July 28, 1914…

Then known as "The Great War," over the next three years, these major imperial powers, which saw the U.S. joining the Allies in April of 1917, sent over nine million soldiers to grisly deaths via machine gun fire, mustard gas, grenades, mines, tanks, and airplanes all across Europe. When the Armistice finally ended the conflict in November 1918—and formal peace terms per the Versailles Treaty compelled Germany to limit its land size and military scope the following year—over 37 million soldiers and civilians had been killed in what the press called "The War to End All Wars."

An American soldier shot dead on barbed wire during World War I

If only the press's opinion about The Great War had been true...

Twenty years later, in the Fall of 1939, after Great Britain and France had watched German Dictator Adolf Hitler systematically break the Versailles Treaty by rearming Germany and annexing the Sudentenland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria in previous years, both nations pledged to Poland that if Germany made a move on its sovereignty, that they would declare war to halt Hitler's aggression. 

Well Hitler, believing that the British and the French lacked the resolve to fight another major war, invaded Poland on September 1, 1939; Great Britain and France subsequently declared war on Germany on September 3rd, thus, beginning World War II! Over the next six years the Allies, led by the U.S., Great Britain, and Free French forces, fought against the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan in a war that left over 15 million soldiers dead, and over 45 million civilian deaths—including over 10 million Jews and Roma who were killed in Hitler's Concentration Camps. 

A German soldier’s frozen remains during the December 1944 “Battle of the Bulge” between German and American forces in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium…

My brief history lesson this morning serves as a backdrop to my perspective that these are extremely dangerous times in which we live, and that what Israel is doing right now in retaliation for Hamas' attacks that left over 1,400 Israeli civilians dead or captured two weeks ago, is a massive escalation of force that has left three times as many Palestinian civilian men, women, and children dead over the past 14 days. 

I have watched with great interest while public opinion has largely picked sides, with some showing unwavering support to Israel—while others show unwavering support for the Palestinians. On these opposite positions, judging from the court of public opinion, there seems to be little wiggle room for negotiations. 

But the truth is that there is a third route, or middle ground, for those who, like I, believe that the best resolution is a two-state solution where “New Palestine” is afforded the same sovereignty and international support as Israel. While an imperfect (if not idealistic) response, such is perhaps the only way to assuage much of the lingering enmity that was created when the U.S. and Great Britain created modern Israel following World War II by arming, training, and supporting European Jewish immigrants in what soon turned into the apartheid segregation and oppression of Palestinians in old Palestine!

And yet, even the two-state solution is often scoffed at by those who are the ideological heirs of the old imperial powers, those who believe that political white supremacy—and white supremacy in its religious form—endow certain nations and people the right to dominate whole lands, darker people, and determine the very fate of the world!

For those who find themselves skeptical of my last paragraph, I ask you to be honest with yourself by asking what is the moral difference between Hamas killing Israeli civilians vs. Israel killing Palestinian civilians? From my point of vantage, there is absolutely NO clear moral difference at all! And yet, many millions of Westerners think themselves clever by insisting that "Israel has a right to defend itself," while refusing to concede that their indifference to the deaths of Palestinian civilians—or, the Palestinians right to defend themselves—is due to the fact that Palestinians are mostly of a darker complexion with hair like lamb's wool who worship Allah instead of Yahweh or Jesus Christ!

As the mainstream media historically have been a major cog in promoting systemic white supremacy, just check out the way that media outlets and social media posters discuss the "barbarism" of "Hamas terrorists" or "Hezbollah thugs" when it comes to Israeli civilian deaths, while the same often paint Israel's slaughter of Palestinian journalists, artists (along with other innocent men, women, and children) as "self-defense" or "collateral damage" in the fight for Israel's security. 

Shireen Abu Akleh (above) was a Palestinian-American journalist working for Al-Jazeera who was killed by an Israeli soldier while covering Palestinian refugees in the West Bank last year…

To circle back to the original question, whether World War III could erupt due to the events in the Middle East, I submit that each time an American president, be they Democrat or Republican, refuses to concede that there would be no need for Hamas or Hezbollah if the U.S. and her allies compelled Israel to agree to a two-state solution, that the ensuing Israeli overwhelming slaughter of Palestinian civilians—with tacit or overt American approval—only hardens the hearts of Palestinians and Arabs in the region, as well as their relatives now living in the U.S. and Europe. 

Heba Zagout (above), an acclaimed Palestinian artist, was killed along with her two small children by an Israeli air strike on October 13th…

More crucially, while President Joe Biden drew praise from many Democrats and Republicans for his statements and acts of strong support for Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack this month, he has drawn criticism from many others for his relative insouciance on Palestinian deaths and the right of Palestinians to be able to govern themselves free from Israeli incursions and occupation of Gaza or the West Bank.

President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s embrace last week in Israel drew anger and condemnation from Palestinian supporters across the world…

But President Biden’s strong support for Israel has discouraged many peace loving people around the globe who see the humanitarian crisis at hand in Gaza, and others who fear the risk that as Israel escalates even further with a deadly ground invasion in Gaza, that Russia and China may use their own powerful military forces and industries to support Hamas, Hezbollah, and the latter’s benefactor, Iran, either by proxy, or by direct intervention if, say, the U.S. and Iran start fighting in the days ahead. If such does occur, I can only pray that Allah, God, Jesus, and Yahweh will have mercy on us all...