George Bush vs. The Abrahamic Covenant

"And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.

"And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

-God to Abram, Genesis 12:2-3

Abram became Abraham, from whom all Jews, as well as Arabs, are descended. But this divine covenent was made with regard to the former, not the latter.

Unfortunately, no matter who is put in charge of the U.S. State Department, Foggy Bottom still can't manage not to get that convenant mixed up:

The fact that burning synagogues failed even to singe the secretary of state's assessment of "diplomatic success" and "effective statecraft" is nothing less than chilling. But maybe it reflects our arrival at a cold, new reality that calls into question Administration attitudes toward long-standing American motives and goals in the Middle East.

Since the Oslo "peace process" began in 1993, Palestinians have received more than $1.5 billion from the United States — more aid, as the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out, than from any other single country....This year alone, the Chronicle reported, the United States will double last year's $275 million PA aid package, paying out $550 million. [emphasis added]

Diane West also asks what we're getting for all this ill-spent cash:

As recently as September 2, according to Palestinian Media Watch, the PA's Voice of Palestine was sermonizing against "heretical" America, exhorting the Muslim faithful to attack Americans in Iraq — just the latest instance of anti-U.S. propaganda carried on PA-run radio. A few weeks ago, the PA's Ministry of Culture, so-called, released its "Book of the Month," a collection of poetry honoring murder-bomber Hanadi Jaradat. This "Rose of Palestine" killed 29 Israeli Jews and Arabs at a crowded Haifa eatery in October 2003, back when such carnage was still shocking. Palestinian Media Watch also noted a PA government newspaper report about female Hamas terrorists — photographed holding American-made automatic rifles. [emphasis added]

In light of this suicidal insanity comes what can only be accurately characterized as "salt in the wound":

That would explain the distressing symbolism in the State Department's apparent snub of Israeli offers of aid in the early aftermath of hurricane Katrina, as reported by the news Web site worldtribune.com. Certainly, State Department spokesmen have quite remarkably omitted Israel's name when ticking off countries participating in the relief effort. By now, the United States has received offers of assistance from Israel as well as Arab countries, the latter diplomatically elevated by silence on the former. In the strange, subtle (and not-so-subtle) world of diplomacy, the American cold shoulder "alarmed" Israeli diplomats "concerned that their country was being marginalized," worldtribune.com reported.

But why? Citing unnamed sources, the Web site wrote that "the Administration was concerned that [Israeli aid] would deter Arab and Islamic countries from offering assistance."

Pardon me for bringing this up, but if Arab and Islamic countries would be deterred from offering us assistance if the Israelis also chip in, why would we want Arab/Muslim assistance at all? Indeed, why aren't we snubbing the Arabs/Muslims for fear of deterring Israel from offering assistance? Or simply accepting assistance from both under the clear proviso that neither can put such unacceptable conditions on their aid offers, and if either doesn't like it, they can stick it.

And how can we possibly be reverting back to a pro-Arab/anti-Israel tilt in the midst of an erstwhile GWOT in which the Jewish state, by definition of its status as co-#1 Islamist terror target and established Middle East democracy, is our strongest and most natural ally?

Ms. West worries that, "with the rise of Condoleezza Rice, the current Bush Administration now reflects the re-ascendance of the old Bush-Baker-Scowcroft school of foreign-policy Arabism," and that, "If we tolerate such bigotry — like burning synagogues — our future...does not look very bright."

Ariel Cohen describes that future succinctly:

If a Palestinian state is founded on the lethal mix of Arab chauvinism and radical Islam, it will serve as a base for international terrorism against Israel, Europe and the U.S., with al Qaeda and Hezbollah calling the shots.

That doesn't sound like a very bright future, does it?

One could almost call it...accursed.

[HT: Powerline]