Gingrich Palestine claim ‘irresponsible’

A SENIOR Arab League official has condemned Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich’s statement that Palestinians are an “invented” people.

The official, Mohammed Sobeih, said that Gingrich’s statement was “irresponsible and dangerous”.

Sobeih told reporters that Gingrich is sacrificing US interests for votes, and that the comments run counter to democratic values and international agreements.

Gingrich has stood by his remarks.

“Is what I said factually correct? Yes. Is it historically true? Yes,” Gingrich said during the latest debate among the Republicans vying to challenge President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.

The comments came as his rivals upped the bidding to gain key support from Jewish voters.

In a sign he could abandon the US position on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, Gingrich said the Jewish people had the right to a state, but did not confirm if Palestinians should have the same privilege.

“Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire,” Gingrich told The Jewish Channel.

“We’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community.

“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 1940s, and I think it’s tragic,” he said.

Republicans aiming for the presidency have declared an unshakeable commitment to Israel, while criticising Obama’s policy toward the Jewish state.

But Gingrich’s campaign was later forced to backtrack and a statement was issued saying he favoured the same two-state solution espoused by Obama and previous US presidents.

Outraged Palestinian officials called for the Gingrich to apologise for his “vulgar, hurtful and ridiculous remarks.”

American Task Force on Palestine spokesman Hussein Ibish pointed out that “there was no Israel and no such thing as an ‘Israeli people’ before 1948,” when the Jewish state was established.

On Saturday, Gingrich kicked the hornet’s nest again, saying: “These people are terrorists.”

“They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say if there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left?” he said.

“We pay for those textbooks through our aid money. It’s time for somebody to say ‘enough lying about the Middle East.’”