Gingrich may have ignored current realities, but Winston Churchill agreed with his history

Churchill meeting el-Husseini in Jerusalem
1921 (Library of Congress)

When Newt Gingrich discussed the Palestinian Arabs last week, he echoed sentiments made by Winston Churchill to an Arab leader in Jerusalem 90 years ago. 

A reminder: Gingrich told the Jewish Channel, “Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. We have invented the Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs and are historically part of the Arab people, and they had the chance to go many places,” said Newt Gingrich.

Arab demonstration, Jerusalem, 1919/1920. The banner on
the left reads "We resist Jewish immigration," the banner
on the right reads "Palestine is part of Syria."

Churchill visited Palestine in 1921 while serving as Great Britain's colonial secretary. He met with the former mayor of Jerusalem and Arab leader, Musa Kazim el Husseini, who complained that life under the British was worse than under the Turks, who were vanquished three years earlier. El Husseini also complained about Jewish immigration to Palestine.

Churchill chided el Husseini and dispelled any notion of an Arab Palestinian sovereignty. "I thought, when listening to your statements, that it seemed that the Arabs of Palestine had overthrown the Turkish Government. That is the reverse of the true facts. It has been the armies of Britain which have liberated these regions."

Indeed, a year earlier, in 1920, the Arabs of Palestine identified themselves as residents of "southern Syria" and demonstrated in Jerusalem against the British Mandate, in favor of inclusion as part of Syria, and in opposition to Jewish immigration. 

Churchill went on to press el Husseini to accept the opportunity to work with the Jews who were building the land -- for their own benefit. "You can see with your own eyes," Churchill said, " in many parts of this country the work which has already been done by Jewish colonies; how sandy wastes have been reclaimed and thriving farms and orangeries planted in their stead. It is quite true that they have been helped by money from outside, whereas your people have not had a similar advantage, but surely these funds of money largely coming from outside and being devoted to the increase of the general prosperity of Palestine is one of the very reasons which should lead you to take a wise and tolerant view of the Zionist movement."

Sphere: Related Content