"Sharia law is destiny, with all other religions subservient to its mandates."

Yeah, sharia law is a real sticking point. And it seems that a majority of Muslims in the region support it. But that support seems to be fairly abstract. Gaza and the West Bank, for example, don't live under strict sharia law. And the degree to which they do live under sharia, at least in Gaza is enforced by Hamas.

When I look at countries like Afghanistan pre-withdrawal or Palestine from 50 years ago, it seems that they would be quite happy to live under secular legal system if allowed to by a non-extremist government. But that doesn't change the fact that Islam needs to be reformed if it's going to coexist with the western world more broadly. I couldn't agree more with that. And that's going to be tough.