Newt Gingrich's Literal Embrace Of Yasser Arafat
by San Stein
12/13/11
WASHINGTON -- Newt Gingrich's questioning of the "authenticity" of the Palestinian people and even whether they should be classified as a group has sparked a sharp debate within the Republican Party.
Several of his fellow candidates for the GOP presidential nomination called his comments unnecessarily provocative and ultimately unhelpful to the ongoing peace process. In foreign policy circles there has been no shortage of debate about the accuracy of the remarks, delivered in an interview with the Jewish Channel last week, and the former House Speaker's consistency on the matter.
On Monday, a political operative who has been working on Palestine-Israel policy for the past 20 years sent The Huffington Post a picture of Gingrich, then the House minority whip, grasped the hand of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat immediately following the September 1993 Oslo peace accords.
The embrace, the source said, came after Arafat met with 20 to 25 House leaders over coffee. Jotting notes down in a yellow pad, Gingrich used the meeting to pitch Arafat on how best to actually construct a Palestinian state. "He said, 'Look, here is what I think you need -- an economic plan – and here is how it will work,'" the operative recalled. "It was a very positive contribution at the time and as they stood up, there were pictures."
In the background of the picture is Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), a long-serving Arab-American congressman, whose office confirmed that the meeting did take place...
For the full article, go to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/newt-gingrich-palestinians-palestine-yasser-arafat_n_1146132.html?ref=politics
*************************************************************
| 