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Genesis 16 of the Hebrew Bible tells the story of Hagar and the birth of her son, Ishmael, whose father is Abraham. The angel of the Lord told the pregnant maidservant that her offspring will be "too numerous to count."
This is the blessing in this Biblical passage. However, there was a curse put on her son to be: that "his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."

Later on in Chapter 21, God tells Hagar that He will make Ishmael into a great nation. From this blessing the nation of Islam arose. Many Muslims revere Ishmael as one of the builders of the Ka 'ba and the father of all the Arabs. He is a huge figurehead in the Islamic community. With over half of the Middle East population tracing their ancestry through Ishmael, it is obvious to say that his descendants are "too numerous to count." So, we know that he is a blessed man, but what about that "Ishmael Curse?"
Unfortunately, there is another! player in this story: Isaac. He is the Jewish equivalent of Ishmael, with the same blessing but without the negativity of a curse. It is through Isaac that God decided to have His "chosen people." You can see the implications of a double blessing. Both sons were blessed with the promise of becoming fathers of great nations.
Only one was cursed to forever live in hostility with his brothers, aka.
Isaac. Two great nations in the same region of the world is not my idea of a good idea. It's a little like those old Western movies with one cowboy saying, "This town is not big enough for the both of us." Both want nothing less then complete annihilation of the other. Throughout history, countless countries and empires have tried to forcefully conquer the empires of the Arabs and the empires of the Jews, trying to enforce peace through fear, but they are never successful because this hatred between Jew and Arab is uncontrollable. It is in their blood. Because of this "Ishmael Curse," the Middle East is a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment. Jews and Arabs have never lived in peace; there has always been hostility. They know no other way. All of this because of some curse. If it had never been spoken over Ishmael, our world would be drastically different. We wouldn't have to constantly worry over the animosity of the Jews and Arabs. Peace could be obtained diplomatically rather than through intimidation. Jews and Arabs could finally live side by side.

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