Arab Groups Demand Armey Apology for Remarks About Palestinians

Several Arab-American groups have called on House Republican Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) to apologize for remarks he made during a recent television interview about the Palestinian pursuit of statehood.

The groups contend that Armey called for an "ethnic cleansing" of the Palestinians, during an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC's Hardball program earlier this week.

According to a program transcript, Armey said, "I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank."

Matthews then asked Armey, "Well, where do you put the Palestinian state, in Norway?" Armey responded, "There are many Arab nations that have many hundreds of thousands of acres of land and soil and property and opportunity to create a Palestinian state."

When Matthews asked whether Armey believed "the Palestinians who are now living on the West Bank should get out of there?" Armey replied, "Yes."

A spokesman for the Council of American-Islamic Relations called Armey's views "insane."