By Melanie Jones: Subscribe to Melanie's RSS feed
December 12, 2011 1:53 PM EST
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is standing by comments he made last week calling the Palestinians an "invented" people. This despite an immediate backlash by Arab leaders and the fact that his comments are at odds with many mainstream Israeli views on an independent Palestinian state.
Below, watch Gingrich's comments and response, and read how his rivals for the GOP presidential nomination and leaders abroad have responded.
'He's lost touch with reality'
"Remember, there was no Palestine as a state," Gingrich told the Jewish Channel last week in a video clip that soon went viral. "It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we've have invented the Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and are historically part of the Arab community, and they had the chance to go many places."
Gingrich's comments immediately sparked controversy in the Middle East. A Palestinian legislator said the Republican presidential primary candidate had "lost touch with reality," while Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said he was ashamed of Gingrich's ignorance.
Follow us
"From the beginning, our people have been determined to stay on their land," Fayyad told Palestinian news agency Wafa. "This, certainly, is denying historical truths."
Even though Arabs have accused Gingrich of a "cheap stunt" to get Jewish votes, Jewish voters might not respond well to his comments, either.
Most mainstream Israelis support the idea of an independent Palestine alongside Israel, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a proponent of Palestinian independence as part of a final peace agreement.
It is unlikely that American Jewish voters would have more extreme views than Israelis, who are likely to express uneasiness at Gingrich's view of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as "delusional."
'I'm not a bomb-thrower'
During the Dec. 10 GOP debate in Iowa, Gingrich's rivals took shots at him for his comments about Israel and Palestine. His most notable critics were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
"Technically and historically, yes, you know, under the Ottoman Empire the Palestinians didn't have a state," Paul said, saying Gingrich's comments were "just stirring up trouble." "But neither did Israel have a state then too."
Mitt Romney said Gingrich's comments would only inflame anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli sentiment in the Middle East, creating an "extraordinary tumult" in Netanyahu's state.
"If I'm president of the United States, I will exercise sobriety, care, stability and make sure that I don't say anything like this," Romney said. "I'm not a bomb-thrower, rhetorically or literally."
Mark Zuckerberg's $6.4 Billion Loss: Value Of Facebook CEO's Stake A Gambler's Nightmare
Tasha Reign Says ‘Super Hot’ Bill Clinton Wanted To Meet Her and Brooklyn Lee, ‘Sympathetic’ For Viral Photo
Larry Flynt Blasts ‘Prudish And Delusional Right Wing’ Over S.E. Cupp Hustler Photo As ‘The View’ Hosts Jump To The Defense
Joe Biden Says He Understood Suicidal Thoughts In Wrenching Speech To Families Of Fallen Troops
Mitt the Bully, Barack the Stoner? Candidates Have Very Different High School StoriesWe value your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.
