December 9, 2011 4:08 PM

Newt Gingrich: Palestinians are "invented" people

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Campaign 2012

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said this week that Palestinians are an "invented" people, a position that could be seen as putting him at odds with the U.S. push for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

"Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire," Gingrich told the Jewish Channel, which posted portions of the interview online on Friday. "And I think that we've have invented the Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and are historically part of the Arab community, and they had the chance to go many places."

He added: "And for a variety of political reasons, we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and I think it's tragic."

Gingrich's comments that Palestinians are an "invented" people, and presumably thus not entitled to a state, would seem to break with U.S. policy under both President Obama and former President George W. Bush, both of whom have pursued a so-called "two state solution" to the Israel/Palestinian conflict that would include the creation of a Palestinian state.

Steven I. Weiss, who interviewed Gingrich, told the Washington Post the comment was a surprise.

"It's a comment I've heard before because I've covered the far right in the Jewish community and the pro-Israel community," he said. "But I was surprised to hear a mainstream Republican figure say it, and I've tried to research to find other mainstream Republican figures who said it. I've yet to find that."

In other excerpts of the interview posted online, Gingrich suggested there was a moral equivalence between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, which he said both "represent an enormous desire to destroy Israel," and said the Obama administration's policies of "evenhandedness" are "out of touch with reality."

"If I'm evenhanded between a civilian democracy that obeys the rule of law and a group of terrorists that are firing missiles every day, that's not even handed, that's favoring the terrorists," he said.

Most of the major Republican presidential candidates appeared before a lobbying group called the Republican Jewish Coalition, where they vowed to be closer to Israel than the current administration. Gingrich claimed the Obama administration takes the position "it's always Israel's fault no matter how bad the other side is," saying that "has to stop." He also vowed to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

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Add a Comment See all 64 Comments
by OnTheCrown December 12, 2011 5:57 PM EST
Americans were an invented people in 1776. I guess the Palestinians are in good company.
Reply to this comment
by PhilistineTheArtLover December 11, 2011 7:54 AM EST
Who We Are And Who We Are Not

By 1948 all the countries that surround Palestine had gained their independence and delineated their borders in their respective constitutions.

That, in itself, defined Palestine.

Never mind the name was first coined by the Greek historian Herodotus around 400BC, never mind every map drawn ever since called the area Palestine, never mind the British calling their administration of that territory the Mandate for Palestine in which article 25 makes it clear no other territories will be added to it, including Transjordan for which the British established a totally separate administration for it.

And never mind the cities of Jerusalem, Meggido, Ashkelon, Jericho, Hebron, Shiloh, Beershebah, Bethel, etc. were ALL FOUNDED, BUILT AND CREATED BY THE CANAANITES AT LEAST 800 YEARS BEFORE ANY JEWS SET FOOT ON THEM.

Most Jews who lived in Palestine before the 1948 War came over AFTER WW2.

When the Arabs came to our aid during that war it was after the Zionist terrorist groups had already expelled over 300,000 Palestinians. These terror groups were so ruthless they managed to expel an additional 500,000 Palestinians and erase over 400 Palestinian villages and towns even after the Arabs intervened.

The state of Israel was established with the help of its terror groups (the Irgun, the Hagannah, the Lehi, the Stern Gang, etc) all of whom had members who either were elected as Prime Ministers of Israel, or chosen to became members of the cabinet by the ruling parties.

Israel didn't have a Prime Minister who was born in Israel until 1996, and by then 7 of the 9 PMs it had were all born outside of Palestine.

The reason we didn't establish Palestine when Gaza was under Egyptian control and the West Bank under Jordanian control was because we wanted to keep the integrity of Palestine as articulated in the 1964 PLO Charter:

"Article 21. The Palestine people believes in the principle of justice, freedom, sovereignty, self-determination, human dignity, and the right of peoples to practice these principles. It also supports all international efforts to bring about peace on the basis of justice and free international co-operation."

"Article 22. The People of Palestine believe in peaceful coexistence on the basis of legal existence, for there can be no coexistence with aggression, nor can there be peace with occupation and colonialism."

And even if we did establish a state back then Israel would have gone ahead with its goal of conquering all of Palestine and "transfering the Palestinians" as they've been saying in everyone of their Zionist manisfestos since the late 1800's, starting with The Jewish State by Theordor Herzl.

Damn if we do, and damn if we don't.

The best peace offer Israel ever made would have that country in complete control of all the borders of Palestine, all of its airspace, all of its coastline, and over 80% of its water resources.

International law calls for the end to all military occupation within reasonable time regardless of how the occupied people feel about it, including Hamas.

Hamas is a political party just like all the other Israeli political parties that call for the expulsion of Palestinians or the prevention of a Palestinian state and that run in every Israeli election and have been part of pretty much ever Israeli cabinet.

Hamas is made up of people who have been born into a ruthless military occupation, have gone to school, married and work under it and who're now watching their children and grandchildren and great granchildren being born, going to school, marrying and working (if at all possible) under the same ruthless military occupation.

You gotta have some balls to invalidate our existance in Palestine, question our humanity, tell us what our history is and is not, who we are and who we are not, and what belongs and doesn't belong to us.
Reply to this comment
by laureenmillarholt December 10, 2011 6:09 PM EST
It is these monstrous, murderous ARABS who need to go--NOT the Israelites/Jews who've called this place "Palesting" home for thousands of years b4 they ever came along with their new, false religion, its nasty & uber-sinful, paedophilic, polygamous, murderous "prophet" & its bloodthirsty god allah. THEY, not the Jews--who, along w/the Christians, have lived in Jerusalem MUCH longer than any muslim--NEED TO GO BACK TO JORDAN, from whence I read they came. I agree w/Newt on this, & a "2-state" "solution" is NO "solution" @ all. The U.N., an intenational body, created the State of Israel in '48, after the end of WWII, & 0 one has any authority or right to abrogate this agreement among nations that the Jews need & deserve a homeland--1 they'd been occupying for thousands of years in the 1st place--that the U.N. made official.
I agree that there's 0 legitimate ethnic group called "Palestinians." They're JORDANIANS.
Reply to this comment
by laureenmillarholt December 10, 2011 6:11 PM EST
Palestine, not "Palesting"!
by chemist5868 December 12, 2011 10:34 AM EST
First of all, your knowledge is about as good as your grammar, its Palestine, not Palesting and last I checked there is no intenational body, its INTERnational body...and you want us to take what you say into consideration and you can't spell fifth grade words???? Educate yourself first honey, then write comments...
by tcp53 December 10, 2011 5:37 PM EST
Newt Gingrich is the ULTIMATE "Washington insider". Even his "private sector" experience revolves aroung taking advantage of government!! This is the REAL Newt Gingrich:

05/04/1979 - He voted for a federal land grab that put tens of millions of acres of land in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.
09/20/1979 - He voted to raise the debt ceiling for the first time.
09/27/1979 - He voted to establish the Federal Department of Education.
06/04/1980 - He voted to raise the debt ceiling for the second time.
02/05/1981 - He voted to raise the debt ceiling for the third time.
06/28/1984 - He voted to raise the debt ceiling for the fourth time.
04/02/1987 - He cosponsored the 1987 Fairness Doctrine (anti 1st Amendment legislation)
02/22/1989 - He cosponsored the Global Warming Prevention Act of 1989.
10/22/1991 - He voted for an amendment that would create a National Police Corps.
11/19/1993 - He voted for the NAFTA Implementation Act.
11/27/1994 - He supported the GATT Treaty giving sovereignty to the U.N.
12/25/1994 - He was quoted as saying that his wife was "not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of the President. And besides, she has cancer."
04/10/1995 - He supported Federal taxdollars being spent on abortions.
06/--/1995 - He wrote the foreword to a book about tearing down the U.S. Constitution and implementing a Fascist World Government.
08/27/1995 - He suggests that drug smuggling should carry a death sentence.
09/16/1996 - He voted for the anti-gun Brady Campaign's Lautenberg Gun Ban, which took away gun rights for people involved in certain misdemeanors.
09/25/1996 - Introduced H.R. 4170, demanded life-sentence or execution for someone bringing 2 ounces of marijuana across the border.
--/--/1996 - He earned a "D" rating from the Gun Owners of America.
01/22/1997 - Congress gave him a record-setting $300,000 fine for ethical wrongdoing.
10/13/2005 - He called for "universal but confidential" DNA testing of citizens.
02/15/2007 - He supported Bush's proposal for mandatory carbon caps.
04/11/2007 - He had a public debate with John Kerry on global warming, in which Newt agreed with Kerry and his views on the environment, praised his book, and almost hugged him.
05/20/2007 - He would "establish a nationwide ID card with biometrics so you can actually track everybody in the country."
04/17/2008 - Made a commercial with Nancy Pelosi on Climate Change.
12/08/2008 - He was paid $300,000 by Freddie Mac to halt Congress from bringing necessary reform.
03/31/2009 - Says we should have Singapore-style drug tests for Americans
06/10/2010 - He's cozy with VeriChip/PositiveID, a company that specializes in human-microchipping.
12/02/2010 - He advocates a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.
01/30/2011 - He lobbied for ethanol subsidies.
01/30/2011 - He suggested that flex-fuel vehicles be mandated for Americans.
02/15/2011 - His book said that he believes man-made climate-change and advocated creating "a new endowment for conservation and the environment."
03/09/2011 - He blames his infidelity to multiple wives on his passion for the country.
03/15/2011 - Says that NAFTA worked because it created jobs in Mexico.
04/25/2011 - He's a paid lobbyist for Federal ethanol subsidies.
05/15/2011 - Said GOP's plan to cut back Medicare was "too big a jump."
05/15/2011 - He backed Obama's individual mandate; "All of us have a responsibility to help pay for health care."
05/16/2011 - He also endorsed individual mandates in 1993 when Clinton pushed Universal Health Care.
05/17/2011 - He has an outstanding debt to Tiffany's Jewelry of between $250K - $500K.
08/01/2011 - He hired a company to create fake Twitter to appear as if he had a following.
11/19/2011 - He said Barney Frank should be arrested for his close ties lobbying for Freddie Mac, just one month before it became public that Gingrich was also lobbying for them at the same time.
11/20/2011 - He has been outed as a paid lobbyist for drug companies, but he still denies it.
11/22/2011 - He says that matters of National Security should not be encumbered by giving Due Process to the accused.
11/28/2011 - He thinks its the job of the Federal Government to ban medical marijuana.
11/28/2011 - He is a Pharmaceutical lobbyist, and coincidentally thinks that non-Pharma drugs like medical marijuana should be banned by the Federal government.
11/28/2011 - He praised draconian drug penalties in Singapore for the second time.
Reply to this comment
by nearl451 December 10, 2011 2:29 PM EST
They are not an "Invented" people anymore than any assembly of tribes of American Natives were an "Invented" people.

They are a "created people"....created by a common forced displacement.

History professor may not be able to recognize what binds them in commonality, but a Sociology Professor would.
Reply to this comment
by thomasmc1957 December 10, 2011 1:41 PM EST
The Jews should give the land back to its rightful owners, the Palestinians, and return to where they came from: Poland and New York City.
Reply to this comment
by laureenmillarholt December 10, 2011 5:54 PM EST
What you & so many others fail to acknowledge is that this place called Palestine belonged to the Jews LOOOONNG b4 these Muslims came along in the 8th century.

How you can say that the "Palestinians" are "rightful owners" is beyond my comprehension when the Israelites/Jews have called it home a LOOONNG time b4 the newest false religion's followers came along.
by JeffersonStarship December 10, 2011 11:01 PM EST
Laureen you are obviously uneducated. The Palestinians were the first Christians. Roughly 20% of Palestinians worldwide are Christian. It's not about religion, it's about Israel being a cancer in the Middle East.
by ZFB18 December 10, 2011 12:19 PM EST
There's an old saying: "a broken clock clock (analog) gets the time right twice a day". Newt you finally got it right! The people within Palestine: Moslem, Christian, and Jewish were largely Arab, and not distinct ethnically, or culturally from the people within the rest of the immediate Middle Eastern area. Indeed the territory named Palestine was created by the British, and the League of Nations after World War I. The origin of the term Palestine is from the Philistines a Greek people that took over the Coastal area from Gaza on North. They ceased to exist after the Israelite, and Assyrian conquests. Thus the term became a geographical one, just as Mesopotamia, a Roman term, did for today's Iraq. Another name for the land is Holy Land, Israel, Judea, Southern Syria, and the like. The current Palestinians (Arabs of Palestine) are therefore, a post 19th Century national formation.
Reply to this comment
by shnovitz December 10, 2011 11:53 AM EST
I have never met Yashiko Sagamori, but I am falling in love with him or her.
Reply to this comment
by shnovitz December 10, 2011 11:50 AM EST
You are sick. Have you ever met a Jewish person? I don't believe you have. And PLEASE, learn to spell! It's difficult to take someone seriously when they can't spell what is supposedly their own language. By the way, are you aware that Jesus was Jewish? No Jew hates Jesus. You are a totally ignorant person.
Reply to this comment
by shnovitz December 10, 2011 11:49 AM EST
You are sick. Have you ever met a Jewish person? I don't believe you have. And PLEASE, learn to spell! It's difficult to take someone seriously when they can't spell what is supposedly their own language. By the way, are you aware that Jesus was Jewish? No Jew hates Jesus. You are a totally ignorant person.
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