Gingrich stands by comment, Palestinians "invented" people

Dec 11, 2011, 3:42 GMT

Washington - Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich in a debate Saturday stood by comments made in an earlier interview that the Palestinians are an 'invented' people.

The comments to US cable broadcaster The Jewish Channel have drawn criticism, but Gingrich defended the remarks in a Republican debate in Iowa.

His chief rival, Mitt Romney, described the remarks as a mistake.

'I'm not going to throw incendiary words into a place that is a boiling pot,' Romney said.

The candidates - with the exception of isolationist Ron Paul - stood by traditional Republican support for Israel and criticized President Barack Obama for not doing more to engage the Middle East peace process.

Gingrich shook his head no to Romney's characterization of his remarks. 'Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth. These people are terrorists,' Gingrich said.

In the earlier interview, Gingrich, a former leader of the House of Representatives, had said: 'I think that we've had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs, and who were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places, and for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and it's tragic.'

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