Palestinians Slam Romney Over Remarks

Romney Declared Palestinian Statehood 'Unthinkable'

Mitt Romney had already made enemies of the Palestinians by pledging to “always stand with Israel” without question on all disputes, but the new hidden camera comments, in which he declared a Palestinian state “unthinkable” and declared Palestinians to be inherently “uninterested” in peace have really taken the row to a new level.

Top Palestinian officials were quick to condemn Romney, saying his comments were “absolutely unacceptable” and accusing him of spending all of his time “pandering to the Israeli Lobby.”

“He seems to think of himself as a mind reader since he claims to know what Palestinian intentions are,” noted Hanan Ashrawi, a top PLO figure, who went on to warn that his positions could damage American credibility throughout the world.

Romney isn’t the first Republican candidate to spark a major dispute with the Palestinians, as Newt Gingrich also caused a pretty significant amount of anger back in December when he declared that there is “no such thing” as Palestinians.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.