By TAWFIK HAMID, JPOST—
Palestinian officials reacted furiously to Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s assertion that they are an “invented” people.
A senior Arab League official immediately condemned Gingrich’s claim that Palestinians are “invented,” calling the claim racist and a cheap stunt to get votes.
Israeli Cabinet minister Uzi Landau said Gingrich was right. He claimed the Palestinians do not have their own language or culture, and are instead part of the broader Arab world.
Gingrich also called Palestinians “terrorists.” The comments struck at the heart of Palestinian sensitivities about the righteousness of their struggle for an independent state. Using the word “invented” suggests that the Palestinian quest for independence is illegitimate.
In a statement, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said that “to understand what is being proposed and negotiated, you have to understand decades of complex history – which is exactly what Gingrich was referencing.”
Those comments appeared unlikely to calm the uproar among Palestinian officials, as Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad demanded that Gingrich “review history.”
“From the beginning, our people have been determined to stay on their land,” Fayyad said in comments reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. “This, certainly, is denying historical truths.”
This heated historical debate raises important theological issues in the Quran, such as whether the Quran recognizes the Palestinians as a nation?
Surprisingly; the Quran supports Gingrich’s views on this issue at three different levels:
1. The word “Bani Israel” (Children of Israel) is mentioned 40 times in the Quran, while the word Palestinians or Palestine is never mentioned, not even once, in the Quran.
2. The Quran considers the Lord as the only one who has the right to give land to people as inheritance{Quran -Al-A’raf 7:128 Said Moses to his people: “Pray for help from the Lord, and (wait) in patience and constancy: for the Land is his, to give as an inheritance to whoever He wanted}.
The only verses in the Quran that mentioned giving land to people as inheritance by the Lord are the following two verses:
{Quran- Al-A’raf 7:137 And We made people, who were considered weak (and of no account) , inheritors of lands in both east and west, – lands whereon We sent down Our blessings. The fair promise of thy Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel, because they had patience and constancy.}
{Quran -Ash-Shu’ara 26:59 Thus it was, but We made the Children of Israel inheritors of it }.
It is clear that the Holy Land – according to the Quran- was given as inheritance to the Children of Israel.
3. The ONLY verse in the Quran that describes the people who used to live in the Holy Land during the time of ancient Israelites described them as being “Tyrants”.
{Quran Al-Ma’idah 5:22 they said: “O Moses! In this land are tyrants.}
In this context, it is important to mention that the same Quran described the Children of Israel as follows: {Quran Al-Baqara 2:122 O Children of Israel! Call to mind the special favor which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all mankind}.
Though these Quran verses could be shocking for many Palestinians to read, changing the Quran or deleting these verses from its text is virtually impossible. It is fair to say that, while Gingrich’s comments could be seen as racist by many, they are supported by the Quran. It seems that Arabs need to read the Quran more carefully before criticizing Gingrich!
The writer is an Islamic thinker and reformer, and a one-time Islamic extremist from Egypt. He was a member of the terrorist organization JI with Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, who later became the second-in-command of al-Qaida. He is currently a senior fellow and chairman of the study of Islamic radicalism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. www.tawfikhamid.com.
As indeed Palestinians are not mentioned in Quran, however it is important to mention that Israel lost it’s covenant after rejecting Jesus as Messiah. Mr. Gingrisch solemn support for Israel is to get Votes first and
2nd it reveals his beliefs that Israel was re – created to bring to the return of the Messiah which eventually will come forth by Armeggedon war which means destruction of Israel.
If he is a true Christian then this is what he believes in and I would love to see him denying this fact
Note: many orthodox Jews believes that Israel was destroyed in 70 A.D as punishment of God for abandoning him, and should re instated only with the coming of the Messiah (first coming)
Most Christians (at least in the United States) do NOT believe that the Jewish people lost title to Israel when most Jews choose not to follow Jesus.
As for “Gingrich is just after votes” – he has been saying these things (about the invented nature of the Palestinian people) for many years, when he was NOT running for anything.
By the way – where is the “Jewish vote” in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina?
These are the early struggles of the nominiation process – and there is no real “Jewish vote” in these places.
Besides – most American Jews have not been Republicans since the 1920s. It would be wonderful if the “Jewish vote” came back to the Republican party – but, believe me, no one is counting on it.
Sorry but American Republicans support Israel out of PRINCIPLE (even politicians have a few principles) – not out of a desire to “get votes” which they do not get anyway.
The notion that Christians believe that God’s covenant with Israel was expunged due to the rejection of SOME Jews of Christ’s Messiahship is not shared by evangelical Christians. It is also unBiblical.
The notion that Christians believe that God’s covenant with Israel was expunged due to the rejection of SOME Jews of Christ’s Messiahship is not shared by evangelical Christians. It is also unBiblical. Pew Research polls verify this: Compared to other Americans, the survey found that white evangelical Protestants were significantly more sympathetic to Israel than to the Palestinians – 55% sympathized more with Israel,
only 6% with the Palestinians (versus 41% and 13%, respectively, of all those surveyed).
” however it is important to mention that Israel lost it’s covenant after rejecting Jesus as Messiah”
Oh, yea? Where in the Bible does it say so? You made it up.
The truth is that the country, any country, belongs to the people who are wiling to fight for it and win. Simple. Currently Israelis are in that position.
Jeremiah 31:35-37. You can’t speculate against the Word of the most high.
None of the examples the author gave from the Koran match up with what Gingrich is saying. Gingrich said that the Palestinian people were “invented”. However, all of the quotes the author gave from the Koran say is that the Israelis were given the land of Israel- NOT that the Palestinians have no right to it.
Gingrich’s assertion that the Palestinians are an invented people does have a shred of truth to it. The Palestinian community dates back about 1500 years when immigrants from Greek Phoenicia intermarried with the Arab population. However, they have been living in what is now Israel ever since then. By the author’s and Gingrich’s definition then, the Americans should also be a “made up” people. After all, there were no “Americans” at all until 500 years ago.
Simply put Gingrich wants to jeopardize decades of diplomacy and progress for the sake of scoring brownies points with religious conservatives. Gingrich is not necessarily going after the Jewish vote either. One of the other commentator’s was right to mention that evangelical Christian communities, which ARE widespread in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, strongly support Israel.