The vicious schism between Sunni and Shia has been poisoning Islam for 1,400 years - and it's getting worseWhen I first saw Christopher Hitchens describe 9/11 as a continuation of the siege of Vienna in 1689, it seemed to have some sense. Now it just seems Islamophobic. As does this. The uprising in Syria is not driven by immutable sectarian differences, but is a response to oppression, sometimes against the sectarian oppression of the Assad régime. To equate those revolting with those they revolt against, to say we cannot tell the difference between the two, is revolting, as it is in Bahrain, where it is the Shia masses revolting against a Sunni oppressor. The violence in Egypt is pretty much all the military government against any opposition at the moment.