Palestinians 'an invented' people? Lieberman rejects Gingrich view (video)
| Washington
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the first Jew to appear on a major party鈥檚 presidential ticket, disagrees with GOP candidate Newt Gingrich鈥檚 view that the Palestinians are 鈥渁n invented鈥� people.
Mr. Gingrich "expressed one view鈥� of the Palestinians鈥� history, Senator Lieberman said Tuesday at a Monitor-hosted breakfast with reporters. 鈥淭here are others, of course, that are quite different. To me the important fact is, the Palestinians are a people today and any resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has to be between two peoples, two nations.鈥�
Last week, former House Speaker Gingrich told an interviewer from cable TV鈥檚 Jewish Channel that Palestinians鈥� effort to gain statehood was the result of 鈥渁n invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and were historically part of the Arab community.鈥澛�
Gingrich came under fire for that comment from other Republican presidential candidates at a debate Saturday in Iowa. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called Gingrich鈥檚 comments 鈥渁 mistake.鈥� Gingrich responded that Palestinian groups 鈥渁re terrorists,鈥� adding that ''sometimes it's helpful to have a president of the United States who tells the truth.''
R.C. Hammond, a Gingrich campaign spokesman, later released a statement elaborating upon the candidate's views: It said, 鈥淕ingrich supports a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians which will necessarily include agreement between Israel and the Palestinians over the borders of a Palestinian state.鈥�
Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut, was the first Jew to be on a major party ticket, when he was Democrat Al Gore鈥檚 vice-presidential pick in 2000. At the breakfast on Tuesday, he said there is irony in the fact that 鈥渁 greater majority of Israelis are prepared to accept the idea of a Palestinian state for a Palestinian people than Palestinians are prepared to accept a Jewish state of Israel for the Jewish people. And that, of course, has to be resolved in negotiations.鈥�
The senator, an observant Orthodox Jew, said the bottom line is that 鈥渨hatever one鈥檚 view of history, the Palestinian people-hood is a reality today, and we have to both respect and deal with that reality as we try to resolve the conflict.鈥�
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