George W. Bush last Wednesday gave his presidential blessing to Israel's extensive acquisition and occupation of Palestinian territory by force of arms, conquest that is expressly prohibited by the United Nations Charter and other provisions of international law, all of which both Israel and the United States have long been pledged to support.

Bush did so in a televised news conference in the White House. He announced that the U.S. government will not demand in future diplomatic negotiations that Israel vacate large Jewish settlements it has unlawfully established within Palestinian territory over recent years. He also announced that the U.S. government will no longer support another property right clearly recognized in international law, the right of Palestinians to reclaim private property they were forced to abandon years ago when Jewish military forces took control of territory that now comprises Israel proper.

It is shocking to witness our chief executive cavalierly dismiss the important legal rights of an aggrieved nationality. It is particularly galling to see Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon smiling broadly at his side.

Sharon should be tried as a war criminal, not honored at the White House. A few years ago, Sharon was found complicit by an official Israel board of inquiry for his major responsibility in the 1982 massacre of hundreds of defenseless Palestinian in Beirut refugee camps. That same year, Sharon was an architect of Israel's aerial bombardment of Beirut that slaughtered over 18,000 innocent civilians. The aircraft, artillery and munitions used in this slaughter were donated by the U.S. government. Three years ago, the prime minister magnified this criminal record by ordering ruthless military sweeps through Palestinian territory that left large-scale death and destruction in their wake. In recent months, with no provision of due process, he has ordered the assassination of countless Palestinians purely on suspicion of terrorism, one of the victims a widely revered Islamic leader, a quadriplegic blown to bits by U.S.-supplied helicopter gunships while emerging from a mosque in a wheelchair.

This gross, malignant behavior is not only illegal; it defies the rules of every major religion, including Judaism. To top it all, Sharon currently faces corruption charges brought by Israeli prosecuting attorneys. Bush tries to dignify this rascal and advance the prime minister's political fortunes by approving his plan to wipe away the legal rights of dispossessed Palestinians.

From the standpoint of U.S. national interests, the timing of this spectacle is unfathomable. President Bush acts as if he is oblivious of Middle East realities. Injuries he inflicts on Arabs in Palestinians are bound to incite Arabs in Iraq and vice versa. In a prime time television address the night before his appearance with Sharon, Bush urged other nations, including Arabs, to help quell rising lethal violence against U.S. forces occupying Iraq, a nation, like Palestine, that is largely Muslim. One of the reasons for this insurgency is Iraqi awareness of the U.S. government's long complicity in Israel's brutal abuse of their Arab neighbors in Palestine.

Bush's announcement of new legal blows to Palestinians will surely add fuel to anti-American passions in Iraq. It is tantamount to stabbing our own soldiers in the back. It will fuel the similar passions worldwide, not just among Arabs and Muslims. Bush should be trying to build goodwill in Arab countries, not destroy it.

The Iraqi insurgents and other worldwide protestors against America surely see the otherwise mighty government in Washington as Israeli occupied territory, the impotent pawn of Israeli manipulation, the meek errand-boy of tiny Israel, whose officials openly and accurately boast that Israel has full control of the U.S. Congress, as well as the presidency. I predict that Members of Congress will be lining up in the next few days to applaud Bush for dashing Arab legal rights. There will be few, if any, words of lament. It may surprise readers to know that U.S. aid to Israel since 1975 exceeds $1.3 trillion. Uri Avnery, an Israeli peace activist and a Jew, recently declared: "America controls the world, and Israel controls America."

Our president and our Members of Congress should hang their heads in shame.

Paul Findley, Member of Congress 1961-83, resides in Jacksonville. He lectures widely and is the author of five books, the latest being, Silent No More: Confronting America's False Images of Islam.