OPINION:
While too politically incorrect for the left to swallow, White House hopeful New Gingrich’s recent comments on the Palestinian people are historically accurate.
The term “Palestine” dates to the Roman Empire, one of the first attempts to de-Judea-ize that part of the world. More recently, it was the name of the region administered for 400 years by the Ottoman Turks. Everyone living in what is now Israel, the West Bank and parts of the East Bank of the Jordan were “Palestinians,” Arabs and Jews alike.
I have seen Jewish passports from the pre-Israel period in which the holder is designated a “Palestinian.” When Israel was formed, everyone living within its borders became Israelis, whether they were Jews or Arabs. It is a fact that there is no meaningful distinction between Palestinian Arabs and Arabs anywhere else in the Middle East; all share common language, religions and culture.
Most absurd is the “insult” experienced by the Palestinians in what they regard is an attempt to delegitimize them. From Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the average Palestinian territory resident, attempts to delegitimize Israel constitute a full-time job for the political force known as the “Palestinians.”
Most egregious have been the material actions taken to destroy artifacts that connect Israel to its Jewish past in the Holy Land. The destruction of archaeological material beneath the Temple Mount, for example, ought to be regarded as a crime against humanity.
DAVID KROSS
Columbia, Md.
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