US Republican candidate and ex speaker of the house Newt Gingrich, when asked if he was a Zionist recently said :
"I believe that the Jewish people have the right to a state .... Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire until the early 20th century .... I think that we've had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs, and who were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places, and for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and it's tragic."
(see http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2011/12/201112108493783540.html)
He also said his world view was "pretty close" to that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and promised to take a tougher pro-Israeli position if elected.
His fellow Republican candidate Mitt Romney then said that put him to the right of the Israeli Prime minister. This is not true. The idea that the Palestinians do not have rights in Israel-Palestine, and they are only Arabs who should go somewhere else, is and has always been a mainstream Zionist position. It is not now mentioned in public by Israeli politicians, because this would undermine the belief in the fictional "peace process" in the minds of the public in Western countries. This peace process is a way for the Israeli government to buy time at a lower diplomatic cost to colonize the occupied territories, principally the West Bank.
I know this is a mainstream Zionist position from the literature, but also from direct experience. When I get the chance to travel I make a point of attending pro Zionist events. At least a dozen times I have seen in Europe, US and Canada the same style of map with a relatively tiny blob of "Jewish" Israel (always including the occupied territories) contrasted with the wide expanse of the "Arab" Middle East. Also there is always the statement that Israel has been fighting wars against Arab countries due solely to the very existence of the Israeli state since 1948.
Gingrich in this statement is very much a mainstream Zionist. It is argued that the threats to Israel's existence will necessitate a meaningful peace, even if Zionists feel this is unfair. The problem with this argument is that Israel's existence has not been in contention since 1948. The West has supported Israel in wars of dominance (mostly against the former Soviet Union) in the Middle East since 1948. This is why Israel went to war with Egypt over Suez in 1956, over defeating Pan Arab Nasser-ism in the Six Day War of 1967 (no modern historians as opposed to chroniclers dismiss the claims that Egypt invaded Israel as propaganda) and the return match that the Egyptians were forced to actually start the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
So Palestinians have no chance and never did have a chance of getting a state. They will remain an underclass in the Middle East. The Jewish people who have been expelled from Arab countries as retaliation since 1948 are going to an Israeli state that actively wants to gather in the Jewish people. The Palestinians that have been expelled and will be expelled from Israel-Palestine are going into a region of general poverty still dominated by foreign backed dictatorships (mostly backed by Western countries thanks in part to Israeli help). Their cause is celebrated by local politicians wanting to stir pan Arab sentiment, while they as individuals are an economic nuisance who are outside local clans who control access to economic and educational opportunities.
This is the real ongoing tragedy, someone should really tell Newt. The worst thing is when people claim that God is in favour of this. Take this comment as typical of Christian Zionist nonsense .......
How we treat Israel will be as it has been since Abraham, "God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel". Please pray for the peace of Israel and that the Lord will change the heart of our President so he will support God's chosen land and people. Pray for the Jewish people to open their hearts to Jesus. Thank you, many blessings!
And this brilliant response .....
The prayer as we Palestinian Christians know should be for all nations .... Jesus came for everybody,and when we followed him we became chosen.The Palestinian history is very clear and rich more than you can understand. And because the God we trust and worship is a Just and Loving and Caring God he cannot choose one nation or religion. Please read some history so you can land down from space.
(See http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Gingrich/Israel.php )
No person who believes in God can support the real Zionist policy of the Israeli Government towards the Palestinians, which is one of time wasting, lying, discrimination and ethnic cleansing. At the same time No person of God can support the discrimination and violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt, or support the Islamophobic discrimination against Muslims in Europe and the US.
We cannot say one religion is as bad as another, this is not a tribal game, because we all owe our allegiance to God. If I am a Jew I am also a Muslim and a Christian. If I am a Muslim I am also a Jew and a Christian. If I am a Christian I am also a Jew and a Muslim.
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