Newt Gingrich: Palestinians are 'an invented' people



Newt Gingrich thinks you are dumb enough to believe this man does not exist.
Newt Gingrich says Palestinians do not exist.  That they are in invented people.  Maybe Newt should educated himself and visit the farm of Daoud Nassar.   "The Israelis want this whole area. Their plan is to force as many of us as possible to leave," said Palestinian Christian  Daoud Nassar, who is fighting to hold on to his family's farm in Nahalin that they have owned since 1916.  Visit Daoud's web-site at  "Friends of the Tent." 


Property Rights have no meaning as American politicians from both parties pander to the voters


By Gary;

I hate politicians who are liars.  But much more, I hate politicians who think the people are so fucking stupid that they will believe the lies.

Newt Gingrich is either a very, very stupid man when he called the Palestinians an "invented people" or he is the worst sort of politicians who will lie to voters faces in a shameless pandering for votes.

Referring back to the early 20^th century, when the British government, in the Balfour Declaration of 1917, declared its support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people,” Gingrich suggested that at the time, the occupants of that territory – the Palestinians – did not have a legitimate claim to the land.

“I believe that the commitments that were made at the time – remember, there was no Palestine as a state,” Gingrich said. “It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that 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.”

" 'Palestinian’ did not become a common term until after 1977. This is a propaganda war . . . " claimed Gingrich.

First a Short History Lesson  

Just because the nation of Germany did not exist until 1871 does not mean the area was not called Germany for thousands of years.  For example, the area was called Germania by the Roman Empire.

The word Palestine is not a modern creation.  The first clear use of the term Palestine to refer to the region synonymous with that defined in modern times was in 5th century BC Ancient Greece.   Herodotus wrote of a 'district of Syria, called Palaistinê" in The Histories.  The Romans called the area "Syria Palaestina" which some scholars state was in order to complete the dissociation with Judaea.  During the Byzantine period, the entire region (Syria Palestine, Samaria, and the Galilee) was named Palaestina, subdivided into provinces Palaestina I and II.

"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence."    - - - John Adams


Defending the Right to Private Property

It does not matter what flag flies over a nation.  The individual people living under whatever flag have the right to hold and own private property and to have their rights protected by the courts.

In a total attack on the right to own private property Gingrich said the Christian and Muslim property owners of the area could have left saying, "they had a chance to go many places.”

What an insult.  The legal owners of homes, businesses and farms had a chance to leave!  What happened to the so-called "Conservative" values of deeds to property and the protection of property rights in a court of law?  If there is no respect for the property rights of individuals there will be violence.

This lack of respect for property is nothing new in the world.  That battle takes place all over the United States itself and all around the world.  The difference is in the Middle East that battle over property has been a flash point for violence.  See our article  THE FEDERALIST - "Do Arabs have Property Rights?"

Palestinians are an invented people

An invented people.  That is a statement that is rude and insulting to the person who listens to it.

Many of the villages, towns and cities of the Middle East go back thousands of years.  For example, the current town of Bethlehem may date back over 3,500 years.

In more modern times the 1920 League of Nations' Interim Report on the Civil Administration of Palestine stated that there were 700,000 people living in Palestine:

"There are now in the whole of Palestine hardly 700,000 people, a population much less than that of the province of Galilee alone in the time of Christ. Of these 235,000 live in the larger towns, 465,000 in the smaller towns and villages. Four-fifths of the whole population are Moslems. A small proportion of these are Bedouin Arabs; the remainder, although they speak Arabic and are termed Arabs, are largely of mixed race. Some 77,000 of the population are Christians, in large majority belonging to the Orthodox Church, and speaking Arabic. The minority are members of the Latin or of the Uniate Greek Catholic Church, or--a small number--are Protestants. The Jewish element of the population numbers 76,000. Almost all have entered Palestine during the last 40 years. Prior to 1850 there were in the country only a handful of Jews."

700,000 "invented" people who do not exist, who do not live in homes they love, in towns they love.

The different peoples of the Middle East, as they always have done, need to learn to live together in peace.

But there cannot be peace if the basic rights of people are not respected by governments and courts.  American politicians who lie to the voters to advance their own careers are not helping the peace process.

For more on this story


Provinces of the Roman Empire including the province of Palaestina.



5th century AD:  Provinces of the Byzantine Empire  -  Palaestina I (Philistia, Judea and Samaria) and Palaestina II (Galilee and Perea)