Arab World to Gingrich: “If Palestinians Are Invented People, Americans Are …”

Palestinians are “invented” people, who want to destroy Israel, says United States Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. His comments, in an interview with a Jewish television channel, have drawn the anger and ridicule of netizens across the Arab world.

On Twitter, Saudi Mohsen Al Mohsen reacts:

@MolMoHsen: Newt Gingrich: Palestinians Are An ‘Invented’ People [and white Americans are the original settlers of the US sure]

Egyptian Zeinobia, in her blog Egyptian Chronicles, shares a similar point of view. She writes:

By Gingerish’s standards and definition of “Invented people” the Americans are also, after all they are in the end a group of immigrants who came from all over the globe to live in land that from 200 years ago was lived and owned by native Indians !!

Evan Hill, an online producer for Al Jazeera English, who is based in Doha, Qatar, notes:

@evanchill: I wonder if Gingrich would argue that Iraqis, Jordanians, Syrians and Lebanese are similarly just “invented” people

And Anthony Permal, who lives in Dubai, UAE, responds:

@anthonypermal: Dear Gingrich, you say #Palestine is an invented people. Well, Israel didn't exist before 1948 either. #justsaying

Meanwhile, Marc Lynch, who is visiting Kuwait, shares a question from the Kuwaiti Press, which is likely to be asked in the corridors of powers across the Arab world:

@abuaardvark: First question from Kuwaiti press: how can we trust US when Gingrich denies Palestinian identity?

And Selin, a Palestinian, jokes:

@Selintellect: Does Newt Gingrich actually exist? I mean according to him, Palestinians are invented. His name sounds like an invention from Harry Potter..

Nasser Ali Khasawneh, who lives in Dubai, UAE, had earlier predicted:

@Nasserak: If Newt Gingrich is the best GOP has to offer, then Obama will win election in a landslide without campaigning!

The 57th quadrennial United States Presidential Election will be held on November 6, 2012.

2 comments

  • ron_woodward

    Fatah Revolutionary Council member Dimitri Diliani said Gingrich’s remarks reflect “the ignorant, provocative, and racist nature of Mr. Gingrich,” according to WAFA.

    “The Palestinian people descended from the Canaanite tribe of the Jebusites that inhabited the ancient site of Jerusalem as early as 3200 B.C.E.,” Diliani said. The “Gingrich remarks are ignorant of the basic historical facts of the Middle East.”

    This is too good.

    The only confirmed mention of the historic Jebusites is in the Hebrew Bible. That’s the only source that says that the Jebusites lived around Jerusalem. This exact same source says that one of their leaders, Araunah, offered to give the Temple Mount to King David; David insisted that he pay for it, and he did – for the amount of fifty silver shekels.

    So if you believe that the Palestinian Arabs are actually Jebusites, you must believe that they sold the Temple Mount to the Jews in a legal transaction.

    (Since such a sale to a Jew would get Araunah the death penalty today, perhaps the Palestinians should atone for their sin!)

    There is another problem, though.

    The Constitution of Palestine refers numerous times to the “Arab Palestinian people” and that “Palestine is part of the large Arab World, and the Palestinian people are part of the Arab Nation.” The PLO Charter similarly states “Palestine is the homeland of the Arab Palestinian people; it is an indivisible part of the Arab homeland, and the Palestinian people are an integral part of the Arab nation.”

    But Jebusites were not Arabs. They were not even Semites! No self-respecting Jebusite (if any had still existed) would identify with the Arab hordes who overran his homeland in the seventh century. He would probably want to behead the infidel invaders.

    Is the constitution and charter wrong? When they call themselves Arab, are they all lying?

    Perhaps “Palestine” should quit the Arab League and re-assert its nebulous Jebusite ancestry.

    If it isn’t obvious enough already, note how Diliani chooses the Jebusites, not the Hittites or Amorites or other residents of Canaan, to be their ancestors – choosing the one tribe that is associated with Jerusalem.

    A real people knows their own history; an invented people will invent their history – and change it whenever it is convenient for them. And since Jerusalem has only become important to the Arab residents of Palestine in the past hundred years, it is convenient to choose specifically that tribe that lived there to be their invented ancestors today.

    In other words, Diliani’s absurd assertion is actually proof for Gingrich’s claims.

    Elder of Ziyon

    (h/t Dan)

    • John Johhson

      “…Arab hordes…”

      Nice dehumanising.

      “…probably want to behead the infidel invaders…”

      1) “Infidel” is a Catholic term.
      2) You and your Elders probably want to behead gentile Arabs.

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