LET me begin this column with a statement sent to me and The Manila Times over the weekend by Mounir Anastas, ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Philippines:
“In an interview by Tucker Carlson released on Carlson’s platform on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claimed that Israel has a ‘biblical right’ to control the entire Middle East from the Nile to the Euphrates.
“Our ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and expatriates of the State of Palestine, strongly condemns the statement by US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
“Huckabee’s provocative and absurd statement contradicts international law, and the position of the international community, including the US, rejecting the annexation of the West Bank. Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem are the occupied Palestinian Territory under international law.
“Such a statement violates the territorial integrity of sovereign states in the Middle East, including occupied Palestine. It is also a clear support for the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory.
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“Furthermore, his remarks fundamentally misrepresent the nature of the conflict. This is not, and has never been, a religious dispute; it is a political conflict over occupied territory, governed by international law and United Nations resolutions, not by scripture.
“Mr. Huckabee’s assertions seem to confuse divine scripture with international law. Sacred texts are instruments of faith, not titles of ownership, and they cannot be used to nullify the borders of sovereign states.
“Mr. Huckabee conveniently ignores that the Holy Bible is a guide for spiritual salvation, not a political manifesto, and God is not a party to real estate transactions that violate the rights of peoples.”
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The Manila Times frequently publishes statements and commentaries received from the various embassies in Manila in our op-ed pages, and that was what management had planned with this one. However, I thought it necessary to throw a little weight around in this case and take up Ambassador Anastas’ statement myself, because I found the subject of his comments so repugnant and potentially dangerous that it needed more context. That is perhaps especially true in a country like this one, where the line between Church and State is too often blurred, and where there are continuous efforts on the part of some to erase it altogether.
I disagree with Ambassador Anastas’ observation that “Mr. Huckabee’s assertions seem to confuse divine scripture with international law.” The former governor of Arkansas and twice-failed presidential candidate did not “seem to confuse” anything, but made it plain that he (and the Christofascist authoritarian regime he represents) purposefully rejects international law in favor of a selective interpretation of biblical scripture, when the latter better suits the aims of the regime and its allies. But my friend Mounir is a diplomat — and a very fine one at that — and I am not. We do our jobs accordingly, so the mildness of his language can be excused.
For the record, Huckabee’s basic knowledge of what is written in the Bible cannot be challenged. He is an ordained Baptist minister, although I do not know to what faction of the Baptists he belongs. His statement about Israel’s “biblical right” is taken primarily from Genesis 15:18-21, in which it is written that God told Abraham, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates.” Similarly, Deuteronomy 11:24 and Joshua 1:4 also allude to the “promise,” describing the land as stretching from the desert (which is usually interpreted as Lower Egypt beyond the Nile) to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea.
This is a fantastic notion in the modern day, of course, as this territory would include all of modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, and parts of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Not only does Huckabee’s assertion disregard international law, it is a gross contradiction of other biblical directives that were intended to clarify what God meant, according to my high school literature mentor, who has also been a professor at a (Lutheran) seminary for more than 50 years.
That was a funny conversation. While he heaped praise on me for being one of the handful of students he is “most proud of,” he was adamant that I did not draw attention to him. “I taught you nothing,” he insisted. “I only tried to help you, and every student I’ve ever had, to be confident enough to get it out of yourselves.” I teared up at that, I am not sorry to admit, and I am glad that I had the opportunity to thank him. He may not be around much longer, and for that matter, I might not, either, so I am grateful that this subject coincidentally gave me the chance to say what needed to be said.
Wow, that was a big diversion. Sorry. Anyway, when I asked Mr. G. the question, he provided the answer instantly, such is his expertise. While the above-cited verses do indeed say what they say, they cannot be taken out of context from Deuteronomy 10:19; Leviticus 19:13, 19:18, and 19:33-34; Micah 4:4; Proverbs 3:29; and in the New Testament, Romans 12:18 and Hebrews 12:14. To save space, I’m not going to go into what all of those say (look it up on your own), but the one that stands out to me is Proverbs 3:29: “Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.”
For the Palestinians, even in the dark days when factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization — the forerunner of the proper national government that is the Palestinian Authority now — resorted to asymmetric warfare against Israeli oppressors — it was never about religion. And why should it be? Palestine, although majority Muslim, is a secular government, and a multi-faith state. And to be fair to the Israelis, for the most part its aggression, although still a crime against the Palestinian people and humanity in general, is not religious in nature, either. But Huckabee’s comments were calculated to make it so, and that is blasphemous in the extreme.
It is sad that respecting the two-state solution for Palestine and Israel, which is a matter of international law, and which is, for what it’s worth, my ironclad conviction, is now considered an extreme position. I would like to see governments such as ours here in the Philippines, which has good relations with both sides, take a more active role in supporting that international law. Whether that happens or not, I don’t know. All I can do is try.
Bluesky: @benkritz.bsky.social
Blog: www.badmannersgunclub.com