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Gingrich Camp: Newt Supports A Palestinian State, But ‘You Have To Understand Decades Of Complex History’

By Ben Armbruster on Dec 10, 2011 at 5:24 pm

During an interview with the Jewish Channel released yesterday, Newt Gingrich said that the Palestinians are an “invented people,” a position that was seen as essentially denying the Palestinians’ right to a state. Gingrich also said in the interview that the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership, which the New York Times notes “has pledged to respect Israel’s right to exist,” really harbors “an enormous desire to destroy Israel.” A Gingrich spokesperson today clarified that the former Speaker supports a Palestinian state, but seemed to suggest that he stands by his original claim:

“Newt Gingrich supports a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which will necessarily include agreement between Israel and the Palestinians over the borders of a Palestinian state,” the spokesman, R.C. Hammond, said in a statement.

“However, to understand what is being proposed and negotiated you have to understand decades of complex history, which is exactly what Gingrich was referencing during the recent interview with The Jewish Channel.”

The Times reports that “Middle East experts said the views that Mr. Gingrich originally expressed were inaccurate and counterproductive.” Former U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said the comments suggested that Gingrich is not really a supporter of Israel:

Martin S. Indyk, a former United States ambassador to Israel, said that if Mr. Gingrich believed that Palestinians did not have a right to an independent state, “as implied in his language, then he’s not pro-Israel at all.”

“Because the government of Israel under Prime Minister Netanyahu supports a two-state solution,” Mr. Indyk said. “The people of Israel — an overwhelming majority of them — support a two-state solution, in which there would be an independent Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure state of Israel.”

PA prime minister Salam Fayyad reportedly called Gingrich’s original remarks “extremely trivial, demeaning and ridiculous,” adding, “Even the most extremist settlers of Israel wouldn’t talk in such a ridiculous way.”

NEWS FLASH

Florida To Host First State-Wide Occupy Conference | Protesters from sixteen different cities will be holding the first-state wide conference of Occupy protesters this weekend. The “purpose of the conference, according to an Occupy Orlando spokesperson, will be to devise a list of desired legislative changes to be delivered on the first day of the Florida legislative session. Those involved in protests from all over the state will march on Tallahassee to deliver the plan directly to the State Capitol on January 10, 2012.”

By Zaid Jilani on Dec 10, 2011 at 4:05 pm

NEWS FLASH

Occupy Protesters To Hold First State-Wide Convention In Florida | Protesters from sixteen different cities will be holding the first-state wide conference of Occupy protesters this weekend. The “purpose of the conference, according to an Occupy Orlando spokesperson, will be to devise a list of desired legislative changes to be delivered on the first day of the Florida legislative session. Those involved in protests from all over the state will march on Tallahassee to deliver the plan directly to the State Capitol on January 10, 2012.”

By Zaid Jilani on Dec 10, 2011 at 4:00 pm

NEWS FLASH

Resignation And Anger In Durban: ‘What is the news I’m going to take home to my flooded country?’ | The representatives of developing countries are expressing their dismay at the the limited agreement the United States and China are willing to adopt on carbon pollution and climate resilience at the United Nations negotiations in Durban, South Africa. “What is the news I’m going to take home to my flooded country?” Claudia Salerno, the lead negotiator for Venezuela, asked angrily. “This is nothing compared to the level of ambition that we require.” During these talks, people’s around the world have been disrupted and destroyed by climate disasters. For the second year in a row, killer floods have struck Venezuela during the negotiations, killing at least eight and putting 29,000 families in shelters.

By Brad Johnson on Dec 10, 2011 at 3:40 pm

Politics

Lowe’s And Other Companies Reportedly Pull Ads From Muslim Reality TV Show After Pressure

By Zaid Jilani on Dec 10, 2011 at 3:00 pm

The TLC reality TV show All-American Muslim chronicles the lives of a group of Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan. The show has been well-received for its fair and realistic portrayal of the Muslim American experience in the United States. Watch a trailer for the show here.

But a reality TV show that lets Americans relate to the lives of Muslims in the United States is an offensive idea to those who want to demonize Islam. The Florida Family Association (FFA) launched a campaign earlier this year to get companies to pull their advertising from the program. FFA claims that 65 of the 67 companies targeted have done this, including home improvement giant Lowe’s and megabank Bank of America:

The Florida Family Association, a Tampa Bay group, has led a campaign urging companies to pull ads on “All-American Muslim.” The FFA contends that 65 of 67 companies it has targeted have pulled their ads, including Bank of America, the Campbell Soup Co., Dell, Estee Lauder, General Motors, Goodyear, Green Mountain Coffee, McDonalds, Sears, and Wal-Mart.

One of the companies that FFA claims pulled commercials, Amway, told the Washington Post that such reports were “misleading” and that it has done no such thing. Lowe’s told the paper that it did indeed pull advertising. “We understand the program raised concerns, complaints, or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum, which we found after doing research of news articles and blogs covering the show,” said Katie Cody, a spokeswoman for Lowe’s.

The Islamic Circle of North America is urging concerned citizens to call Lowe’s and protest their withdrawal of advertising: “We urge the American Muslim community and our friends, family, neighbors and all people of conscience to call Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock at (704) 758-2084 or Executive Support Mr. Andrew Kilby at (866) 900-4650 and respectfully complain about this decision.”

Update

Lowe’s issued this statement on Facebook confirming that it pulled the ads: “Lowe’s has received a significant amount of communication on this program, from every perspective possible. Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lighting rod for many of those views. As a result we did pull our advertising on this program.”

Update

The Florida Family Association, the right-wing group responsible for manufacturing a campaign against All-American Muslim, says this about the show:

Clearly this program is attempting to manipulate Americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and to influence them to believe that being concerned about the jihad threat would somehow victimize these nice people in this show.

Climate Progress

Speaking On Behalf Of Half The World’s Population, Climate Hero Anjali Appadurai Mic Checks Climate Summit To ‘Get It Done’

By Brad Johnson on Dec 10, 2011 at 2:30 pm

Anjali Appadurai uses the people's mic at COP17.

Anjali Appadurai spoke on behalf of the world’s youth at COP17, the UN climate summit in Durban, South Africa, using the people’s mic to say, “Get it done!” Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, gave the final address to the delegates before what was supposed to be the concluding session. Instead, negotiators have struggled through Friday and Saturday with the harsh conflict between urgent scientific necessity and political possibility.

Appadurai challenged the delegates to remember that Africa is on the “frontlines of climate change.” She accused the assembled nations of betraying her generation, saying we are living in “an era in which narrow self-interest prevailed over science, reason and common compassion”:

The most stark betrayal of your generation’s responsibility to ours is that you call this “ambition.” Where is the courage in these rooms? Now is not the time for incremental action. In the long run, these will be seen as the defining moments of an era in which narrow self-interest prevailed over science, reason and common compassion.

Watch it:

“On a purely personal note, I wonder why we let not speak half of the world’s population first in this conference, but only last,” acting COP president Artur Runge-Metzger, chair of the European negotiating team, mused after Appadurai spoke.

Transcript: Read more

NEWS FLASH

Santorum: Marriage Equality Will Lead To ‘Normalization Of Same-Sex Values’ | Rick Santorum railed against same-sex marriage during a campaign stop in Ceder Falls, IA on Friday, warning that gay and lesbian unions will change what children are taught in the classroom and lead to the “normalization and inoculation of normalization of same-sex values.” He also expressed concern that “schools will be forced to teach that all forms of sexual activity are normal, healthy and good behavior.” (HT: OnTopMagazine)

NEWS FLASH

Supreme Court Stays New Texas Congressional Map Pending Review | Texas’ roller-coaster redistricting adventure took another turn late last night as the Supreme Court agreed to review the most recent map’s constitutionality and block its implementation in the meantime. After the DC Circuit Court struck down the Texas legislature’s original map for discriminating against minorities, a three-judge panel released a new map late last month that would have created four additional minority-friendly districts. Now, that map will be reviewed by the Supreme Court, with a hearing set for January 9. SCOTUS Blog says the move “raises the strong possibility of a major new ruling on the power of federal judges to draw up redistricting plans while a state legislature’s own maps are under challenge in court.”

NEWS FLASH

Tens Of Thousands Protest In Moscow, Chant ‘Putin Is A Thief’ | The New York Times reports today that tens of thousands gathered in a central Moscow square to protest the country’s recent parliamentary elections, which were widely reported as fraudulent on behalf of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party. The demonstrators shouted “Putin is a thief” and “Russia without Putin.” The Times adds that “an hour into the event, police estimated the crowd at 25,000, which would make it the largest antigovernment action since the fall of the Soviet Union.”

Climate Progress

Negotiators Strike Wide-Ranging Deal During Extended Climate Talks in Durban

By Stephen Lacey on Dec 10, 2011 at 12:01 pm

Update

There’s a wide range of reaction to the Durban deal struck early this morning.

If you consider the important task of bringing developing countries like China and India into negotiations for some kind of legal emissions framework, while also implementing many of the priorities set in last year’s Cancun meeting, the outcome looks more positive. John Podesta, former chief of staff for the Clinton White House, and Chairman of the Board at the Center for American Progress (CAP) falls into this camp:

“China is in line to be the world’s biggest cumulative emitter by mid-century and as early as 2035. From the perspective of solving this problem we cannot get to any workable resolution unless we can trust the reductions China takes and have a roadmap to get them to strengthen their ambition.”

However, when viewed in the context of the dire climate problem, the Durban agreements simply don’t get us to where we need to be. Climate Action Tracker analyzed the impact of the frameworks agreed upon at COP17:

The agreement in Durban to establish a new body to negotiate a global agreement (Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action) by 2015 represents a major step forward. The Climate Action Tracker scientists stated, however, that the agreement will not immediately affect the emissions outlook for 2020 and has postponed decisions on further emission reductions. They warned that catching up on this postponed action will be increasingly costly.

The Climate Action Tracker estimates that global mean warming would reach about 3.5°C by 2100 with the current reduction proposals on the table. They are definitely insufficient to limit temperature increase to 2°C.

We’ll have more coming on the politics, implementation and science behind these targets in the coming days.

Update

5:00 am: Tweets of the morning from Christina Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC:

After a grueling two days of negotiations with almost no rest, the international community gathered at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa was able to agree on an extension of the Kyoto Protocol, a process for negotiating internationally-binding emissions framework [note: I took out the word "target" here], and more details on an international fund for financing adaptation and mitigation projects.

Before the meeting even began, people were ready to write off the negotiations as a failure. With almost all major priorities outlined by negotiators coming into the meeting adopted, the international community has taken far bigger steps than anyone expected.

As Figueres pointed out, they are still not enough to get us on a sharply declining emissions path. And a number of environmental groups are heavily criticizing the package, saying it won’t get the job done. But it’s a decent start — and certainly far better than predicted coming into this meeting.

I’ve been updating this piece all day. But now I have to drop off and catch a plane. We’ll have plenty more analysis on how this will all be implemented soon. So stay with us.

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