GOP Congressman Randy Fine Drops a Bombshell — 'There Is No Such Thing as Palestinians,' It Was a Soviet Invention to Fight America

Republican Congressman Randy Fine of Florida is making waves with one of the most direct and unfiltered statements on Palestinian identity ever uttered by a sitting U.S. lawmaker — declaring flatly that there is no such thing as Palestinians and that the entire concept of a distinct Palestinian people is a political fiction invented by the Soviet Union as a Cold War weapon against the United States. Fine, a fierce and unapologetic supporter of Israel who has never shied away from controversy on Middle East issues, made the remarks during an interview discussing the history and legitimacy of Palestinian national identity. In Fine's telling, the people today identified as Palestinians are simply Arabs whose ancestors migrated to the region from Saudi Arabia, and the modern label was manufactured decades ago as part of a calculated Soviet strategy to undermine American influence and empower anti-Western forces in the Middle East.

The comments reflect a strain of historical argument that has circulated in pro-Israel circles for decades — one that challenges the notion of Palestinians as a distinct ethnic or national group with deep, indigenous roots in the land, and instead frames Palestinian identity as a relatively recent political construct with no organic historical basis. Fine's position echoes arguments made by some Israeli and American conservatives who contend that the modern Palestinian national movement was substantially shaped and instrumentalized by outside powers, including the Soviet Union during the height of Cold War geopolitical competition. While that view remains deeply contested among historians, it is a perspective that has gained significant traction in right-wing and strongly pro-Israel political spaces, particularly in the post-October 7 environment where scrutiny of Palestinian political narratives has intensified sharply.

For a congressman as outspoken and ideologically committed as Randy Fine, this kind of statement is less a slip than a deliberate line in the sand — a clear signal to his base and to Israel's supporters that he has no intention of softening his language or retreating from the most aggressive possible defense of the Jewish state's position in the ongoing conflict. Whether the remarks generate a political firestorm or earn him applause from his constituents in Florida, Fine has once again planted his flag exactly where he intends to: squarely on the side of Israel and squarely against what he views as a fabricated narrative used to delegitimize the one true democracy in the Middle East. In today's political climate, that is a message millions of Americans are ready and willing to hear.