In the same video in which Mitt Romney maligns Obama supporters for not paying taxes and not taking personal responsibility, the Republican presidential candidate also derides Palestinians for not being interested in peace.
David Corn, the writer of the story in Mother Jones magazine that accompanied the first video, said in an appearance on MSNBCs “Rachel Maddow Show” last night that additional snippets of the video would be released in coming days. He was true to his word, as another one came out today revealing another huge foreign policy gaffe for Romney.
Just as the news media was filled today with stories and columns about Romney ridiculing 47 percent of the electorate for wanting government handouts, now the Romney campaign has to deal with Romney making a claim about Israel and Palestine that Palestinians are describing as highly offensive.
“I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say there’s just no way,” Romney said in the latest video clip published by liberal Mother Jones magazine.
In one sentence, Romney compounded problems he created when he visited Israel in July and mentioned the ”power of culture,” an extremely loaded phrase in that part of the world, where every utterance can set off tensions and accusations of bias.
“And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things,” Romney said in July, citing an innovative business climate, the Jewish history of thriving in difficult circumstances and the “hand of providence.”
Palestinians and others reacted angrily then, and they reacted angrily today to Romney’s latest gaffe. On the West Bank, Palestinians said Romney was wrong to accuse them of not seeking peace.
“No one stands to gain more from peace with Israel than Palestinians and no one stands to lose more in the absence of peace than Palestinians,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters. “Only those who want to maintain the Israeli occupation will claim the Palestinians are not interested in peace.”
The video was taken at a private fundraiser in May at the Boca Raton home of millionaire private equity manager Marc Leder—a man identified in a New York Post story last year as a rich guy who threw a Hamptons party last summer “where guests cavorted nude in the pool and performed sex acts.”
