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Jewish World Review / May 28,1998 / 3 Sivan, 5758
Cal Thomas
HOUSE SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH, touring Israel with a
congressional delegation honoring the 50th anniversary of the
modern Jewish state, accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of
systematically inciting violence among its followers and
harming the peace process.
Interviewed on CNN from Jerusalem, Gingrich said, "No
Palestinian official should talk about or threaten bloodshed,
but yet it is a routine pattern in this region for the Palestinian
Authority to, in effect, incite violence."
Several Palestinian leaders claimed Gingrich's remarks were
inciteful and suggested that they might be a provocation
toward violence, as if the PA ever needed to be provoked.
Violence is its primary tool for applying pressure to Israel.
While some in the State Department and the American
media expressed shock at Gingrich's comments, he is one of
the few top American leaders in recent years to state the
obvious and courageously stand up for the only democracy in
the region. American officials ignore threats by Palestinians,
apparently thinking them empty.
While Gingrich defended Israel, the PA's television station,
PBC, carried an interview with Dr. Ahmed Tibi, a personal
advisor to PA leader Yasser Arafat.
On the same broadcast, scenes were shown from a "Nabka
Rally" in Ramallah, which included a chant from an
unidentified leader and responses from a large crowd. The
chant included these lines: "Palestine is Arab; Netanyahu
Binyamin, Nazi, son of Satans; the entire land is Palestine."
During the chant, cameras focused on the burning of a model
Jewish community village and a flaming Israeli flag.
Other pictures showed a dais in Gaza occupied by Arafat and
other PA leaders. Arafat himself joined in a chant: "All of
Jerusalem is Arab; the entire land is Arab." There were
appeals to "martyrs" and "holy war" but the picture you
got was of an intransigent opponent to Israel's existence. If
you take these and many similar statements at face value (and
what convincing evidence is there that we should not?), it is
clear that Israel's enemies have no intention of making peace,
but only war, until all of the land is rid of the Jews and the
Palestinians occupy it and Jerusalem, too.
What other conclusion can be reached? Either Arafat and his
supporters are lying to their fellow Palestinians about their
intentions, or they are lying to Israel and the United States
and they are using the so-called "peace process" to pick
Israel's pocket. Which is it?
The reason the State Department is upset by Gingrich's
remarks is that it blows the cover it has devised to hide the
true intentions of Israel's enemies. This is not about
negotiations between equals trying to work out a means by
which they might coexist on the same land with mutual
respect and guarantees of safety and security. This is about
one side's determination to eradicate an entire people from
the region by whatever means necessary. It is about one side
that makes its violent intentions plain. And it is about an
American government that for the last two administrations
has tried to force Israel into believing the unbelievable: that
real peace is possible with people who want you dead and
gone.
The United States claims to be Israel's "friend." You wouldn't
know it from the blind eye the United States turns to every
outrageous and war-like statement made by the PA and its
supporters. Speaker Gingrich has shown how real friends
behave. They say and do supportive things. Gingrich's visit to
Israel should be a major boost to the nation's morale.
While Israel's enemies frequently make inciting remarks,
Gingrich's comments were full of
The Speaker's insightful remarks 
Tibi said, "We are here to state that we are the owners of
this land," by which he meant all the land. "We are the
rightful owners," he added. "This is our history, and we will
never bend."
