Palestinians Slam Gingrich over 'Invented' People

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The Palestinian premier on Saturday slammed U.S. presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich for belittling the Palestinians as an "invented" people and demanded an apology.

Gingrich, leading in some national polls for the Republican Party nomination, made the comments in a Friday interview to be aired with the Jewish Channel satellite television.

Prime minister Salam Fayyad called on Gingrich to apologize for his "vulgar, hurtful and ridiculous remarks", during a meeting with journalists in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Gingrich's characterization "constituted a totally unacceptable distortion of historical truth", he said, stressing that in Israel "even the most extremist settlers don't dare to speak in such a ridiculous manner."

Fayyad, whose people have controversially applied for U.N. recognition as a state, insisted: "Our people have been on this land from the beginning. And it is determined to stay until the end."

In the interview, Gingrich, a former House speaker who has surged in public opinion polls, said: "We've had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community."

"And they had a chance to go many places. And for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940's, and I think it's tragic."

Gingrich also declared his world view was "pretty close" to that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and vowed to take "a much more tougher-minded, and much more honest approach to the Middle East" if elected.

Comments 2
Default-user-icon amirmansour (Guest) over 12 years

Keep the pressure on Gingrich as this is the b est PUBLIC RESISTANCE you could do.....
It is not onlu Vulgar it is plain naive and stupid....does not deserve using the word arrogance.....just plain stupidity.
The American People must NOW know the idiotic politicians they are to deal with....

Default-user-icon A. Templar (Guest) over 12 years

The British Mandate for Palestine, also known as the Palestine Mandate, The British Mandate of Palestine and the Mandate for Palestine, was a legal commission for the administration of Palestine, following the defeat of the Ottomans in 1918.
The mandate formalized British rule in the southern part of Ottoman Syria, and Emir Faisal, on behalf of King Hussein, recommended an Arab state under a British mandate. Also the World Zionist Organization asked for a British mandate, and asserted the 'historic title of the Jewish people to Palestine'.
Palestine was never a constitutional state. The land of Israel, was occupied by a number of tribes known as the Filisteens with no government structure nor a constitution.
They remained divided until the present; therefore the lack of nationalism among the nowadays Filisteens.
In principal, Gingrich is right to label the Palestinians as invented.