NEWT GINGRICH: POURS GAS ON THE PALESTINIAN/ISRAELI FIRE

 As the carnival horse race for the GOP nomination is approaching the final straight, many of the younger horses in the field have fallen at fences of gaffes, gropes, and the famous "anyone but Willard" water ditch.  In the wake of this thinning field the veteran runner, Former Speaker Newt Gringrich that attracted no bets until the 'at the post,' aside from the long shot gamblers, has pulled ahead of the ailing pack.  Being head of the pack, however, means all cameras are on you, and all commentators are screaming you name. And with close coverage, comes close scrutiny.

Though a lot of political rhetoric can be taken with a pinch of salt and viewed as merely a grisly means to a political end, sometimes a truth about a candidate comes out that transcends the now commonplace (although it doesn't justify it) inflammatory statements of political campaigns.  Most recently, Newt's comments to The Jewish Channel TV station in regards to the Palestinian people is one of these inflammatory statements.

Mr. Gingrich Said, "Remember, there was no Palestine as a state, It was part of the Ottoman Empire."

He continued in saying, "I think we have invented the Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and who are historically part of the Arab community, and they had a chance to go to many places, and for a variety of political reasons, we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s. It's tragic."

Now I'm not going to delve into the pages of history and make a case for either the Israelis or the Palestinians, as history is written by the perception of man, which is undoubtedly biased.  And no 'peace deal' will ever be reached as long as history remains the deciding factor.  

Newt's comment is quite purely and simply, extreme bias.  It's counterproductive, it's racist, and it is profoundly hypocritical.

First and foremost, his claim that "It was part of the Ottoman Empire" is correct, in fact the Ottoman Empire stretched as far north as around Budapest.  It encompassed, what is now modern day, Greece, Ukraine, Albania, Bosina, Croatia, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt and parts of Saudi Arabia.  If Newt's reasoning of the Palestinian history is correct, does that mean that EVERY one of those other countries that were once part of the Ottoman Empire should return to rule under a Turkish banner? Simply because at one point in history they were all territories of a former, now fallen, empire?

A second part of his comment also has profound ramifications if the vile bias is sucked out it and it's viewed as the voice of 'reason.'  He claims that the Palestinians are an "Invented people."  This next statement should not be taken out of context as without the context, it is just as inflammatory as Newt's statement.

If Newt's assertion that the Palestinian people are an "Invented People" is assumed as true...then that also means that Americans are invented people.

The American people were 'invented' by ex-pats from European nations, most notably Great Britain. If Newt's logic is sound, then all Americans are actually nothing more than citizens of the British Empire. If you go back far enough in the pages of history, in most cases it was someone else that 'owned' the land you currently live on.  In America's case, it was the NATIVE American tribes.  It is their land that is currently occupied by the "Invented Americans."  So if Newt's basis for who should reside on what piece of the earths crust is simply based on previous ownership, then every American must leave and return to their European homelands, every Australian must return to the United Kingdom, French Canadians must return to France etc.

Actually, let's take Newt's reasoning a step farther.  Every citizen of every country on the face of the planet has to go back to Pangaea.  On second though, let's take it one step farther than that and say that every human has to walk back into the ocean that our genetic ancestors crawled out of so many years ago.

I specifically used that last sentence to make another point, incorporating religious tensions with those of a historical nature.  Historical and religious fascination are the reasons that peace cannot be reached in the Middle East.  In order to move forward we, as a united human race, must put aside historical discrepancies, and religious conflictions to live in the present and look to future.  The 'promised' land for all of us is earth...the entire planet.  To try and carve it up into sections based on ancient texts is extremely counterproductive to the needs of today's globalized world.

I wish to make clear that I am not an advocate for either Palestinian interests, or Israeli interests.  I'm and advocate for all peace between everyone that inhabits the earth.  Just as I condemn Newt's Palestinian statements, I condemn Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements toward Israel...as I view them as entirely similar in nature, they both imply that a group of people don't exist.  


I firmly believe that anybody with aspirations to become the president the United States, needs to be utterly impartial when it comes to the Palestinian/Israeli divide, they need to look to the future, not reiterate that past, especially when the past of the US is as murky as any other nation.  Again, it was history that Newt was eluding to, and history always has two sides.  The Americans in the revolution could be viewed historically as patriots in the US, but traitors in the UK.  What America called 'Westward Settlement' the Native Americans could label genocide.  History is littered with injustice, but at some point we must pave over history, as counter intuitive as that sounds, to build the foundation for a united future.  We must make concessions with our past, concessions with ourselves, and concessions with each other in order to live together on this planet.

Newt's vile bias has no place in the world of today's politics.  After spending so many years as House Speaker, he should know that in any peace deal, there are concessions on BOTH sides. And that clinging onto such a narrow minded view is detrimental to the overall outcome.