we can transport them all in cattle cars too...

[Guest guest]

CONGRESSMAN CALLS FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIANS

Muslims urged to contact congressman to demands retraction, apology

 

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/2/2002) - CAIR is calling on all people of conscience

to contact House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) to demand that he

retract his call for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Last night

on MSNBC's " Hardball, " host Chris Matthews had the following dialogue with

Rep. Armey:

 

ARMEY: I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank.

 

MATTHEWS: Well, where do you put the Palestinian state, in Norway? Once the

Israelis take back the West Bank permanently and annex it, there's no place

else for the Palestinians to have a state.

 

ARMEY: No, no, that's not--that's not at all true. There are many Arab

nations that have many hundreds of thousands of acres of land and--and soil

and property and opportunity to create a Palestinian state.

 

MATTHEWS: So you would transport--you would transport the Palestinians from

Palestine to somewhere else and call it their state?

 

ARMEY: I would be perfectly content to have a homeland, just as--most of...

 

MATTHEWS: But not in Palestine?

 

ARMEY: Most of the people who now populate Israel were transported from all

over the world to that land and they made it their home. The Palestinians

can do the same, and we're per--perfectly content to work with the

Palestinians in doing that...

 

MATTHEWS: Right, no. No, that's not the question and that's not your

answer. The question here is: What is the future of the Palestinians who

are fighting Israel right now? You say there future is somewhere besides

Palestine. That runs in the way of US policy going back to 1948. It

runs--it runs completely against the president's policy and every policy

I've heard a president take, which is that Israel has to give up its

settlements on the West Bank and give it back to the Arabs in exchange for

peace. You say the deal should be the Palestinians leave?

 

ARMEY: That's right...I happened to believe that the Palestinians should leave.

 

MATTHEWS: Have you ever told George Bush, the president from your home

state of Texas, that you think the Palestinians should get up and go and

leave Palestine and that's the solution?

 

ARMEY: I'm probably telling him that right now.

 

MATTHEWS: Well, just to repeat, you believe that the Palestinians who are

now living on the West Bank should get out of there?

 

ARMEY: Yes.

 

" It is beyond belief that Representative Armey would openly call for the

ethnic cleansing of the entire Muslim and Christian Palestinian population,

something that violates every norm of international law and human rights.

Even the most extreme Israelis are reluctant to publicly advocate such an

insane policy, " said CAIR Governmental Affairs Director Jason Erb.

 

Erb demanded an immediate retraction and apology from Armey. He said CAIR

has received many complaints about Armey's remarks.

 

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE.)

 

Contact Rep. Armey to ask that he retract his call for ethnic cleansing and

that he apologize for advocating a policy that would violate all norms of

international law and human rights.

 

CONTACT:(A personal call is best, followed by a fax, followed by an e-mail

message. Inform CAIR of what you are told, or how you are treated, by

Armey's staff.)

 

Congressman Dick Armey

301 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515-4326

 

TEL: (202) 225-7772 or 202-225-4000

Fax: (202) 226-8100

 

(District Office)

9901 East Valley Ranch Parkway, Suite 3050

Irving, TX 75063

 

TEL: (972) 556-2500

 

ONLINE: http://capwiz.com/cair/home/

 

E-MAIL: Brian.Gunderson, terry.holt

COPY TO: cair

 

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