FACTS BEHIND GINGRICH PALESTINE COMMENT

If you watched the ABC-TV Republican Candidate Debate last week from Des Moines, Iowa you know that Newt Gingrich made a comment about Palestine. On the chance you did not see the program, or hear about the comment, permit me to summarize.

Gingrich said, “The fact is, the Palestinian claim to a right of return is based on a historically false story…’Palestinian’ did not become a common term until after 1977. This is a propaganda war in which our side refuses to engage and we refuse to tell the truth when the other side lies.”

In an effort to bring some clarity to the subject, I did some detailed research that may allow you to understand the issue better, and it also proves that Gingrich’s statement can be verified as correct by historical facts and documents.

Two links are worthy of your effort to read, but they are both quite long. The first is “History of Israel” and the second one is “State of Palestine” from the Wikipedia free encyclopedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Israel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Palestine

Let me draw your attention to pages 7, 8 and 9 in the first document starting with the Mamluk rule in the 13th Century through The Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate of Palestine (1917-1948). The understanding of the influences of those factors is vital to understanding how Israel was created.

In the second document I draw your attention to page 10 and the Kingdom of Jordan’s rift with the Palestinian leadership, and the later creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1974.

Since that time the disputes between Israel and the Palestine Arabs on the creation of borders for State lines has led to bloodshed and repeated wars. It is your Commander’s opinion that the British Empire learned years ago that it could not resolve the conflict dating back to its colonial dominance of the area and washed its hands of the situation.

Since that time the United States has been heavily involved with strong support of the Jewish State of Israel. In 2011 the USA has provided Israel with $8.2 million per day (almost $3 billion for the fiscal year) and $0 to Palestine in military aid. In 2010 the USA gave Palestinians $400.4 million in economic aid and $100 million in support of Palestinian Authority police training, plus another $61.5 million in USAID and Red Cross assistance following Israel’s assault on Gaza. All these statistics were verified by a Google search.

It is your Commander’s personal opinion that we should continue to support our friends in Israel, but I cannot understand our State Department funneling massive amounts of money into an area that continues to lob rockets into Israel. The existence of Palestine and its boundaries needs to be settled by the people in that area and the Israeli’s. I do not understand why we are putting money into the hands of people who are acknowledged terrorists and see no reason for Israel to exist. Both sides come to this debate with blood covered hands.

Please remember the term “Palestine” was created by the British Mandate to define the geographical area that currently covers the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, as well as the area covered by the current State of Jordan.

Please remember this conflict has been going on since the Kingdom of Israelite (1200-950 BCE) “Before the Common Era.” As far as the rest of the geographical area is concerned, I agree with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) that it is time for the USA to get the hell out of the Middle East, and let them fight as they have for centuries without our money.

After all that is said, Newt Gingrich was correct in his statement as proven by historical facts.

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