Palestinian Reaction to Gingrich: Pot Calls the Kettle Black

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has kicked off a predictable storm over his declaration that the Palestinians are an "invented"…

By December 11, 2011

Newt Gingrich

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has kicked off a predictable storm over his declaration that the Palestinians are an “invented” people. I’m not going to comment on the rights or wrongs of this statement. But the Palestinian reaction caught my eye.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat stated:

What is the cause of violence, war in this region? Denial, denying people their religion, their existence, and now he is denying our existence.

Indeed. How about some Palestinian denial?

  • Denial of Israel’s right to exist;
  • Denial of Israel as a Jewish state;
  • Denial of any Jewish historical or religious connection to the land of Israel, including the denial that there ever existed a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount;
  • Hamas’s Holocaust Denial

Newt Gingrich’s statements are his own and do not reflect official Israeli government policies. Erekat’s response, however, reflects much of what is wrong with the Palestinian narrative.

Saeb Erekat – talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025

Simon Plosker

Simon Plosker

With over two decades of experience in various non-governmental organizations in the UK and Israel, Simon Plosker returned to HonestReporting in October 2022 as Editorial Director having previously been part of the organization’s management team from 2005 to 2020.

Prior to his first spell at HonestReporting, Simon worked in Israel for NGO Monitor, BICOM, and served for a short period in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. He was Managing Editor of the Geneva-based NGO United Nations Watch for two years before moving back to the frontline defending Israel from media bias.

Simon has a BSoc.Sc in International Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics. He immigrated to Israel in 2001 from London.

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