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Dick Armey's call for war crimes should not go unreported and unanswered


PMWATCH - May 3, 2002 -- On May 1, 2002, as a guest of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews (see transcript below), House Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) spoke on the record for the transfer of Palestinian populations from the West Bank and Gaza to other Arab countries and the permanent annexation of those lands by Israel. (See action calls from CAIR, ADC, along with an article from Ahmed Amr of NileMedia.com)

Such opinions are well known to have been held by both Mr. Armey and his colleague Tom Delay (also a Republican Representative from Texas), but this is the first time that the idea of outright cleansing Palestinian land of its Palestinian population has been so brazenly, so unapologetically articulated in public, on the record, by the Congressman.

But stunning as Mr. Armey's comments are, the bigger outrage is the deafening silence that has met Mr. Armey's criminal suggestions. The leader of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress has advocated, on the record, emphatically, unapologetically, the perpetration of an unmitigated war crime, and yet, not one editorial has been issued to blast Mr. Armey!

Worse: our latest check with a handful of the major papers has revealed that editors are simply not aware of these statements from Mr. Armey. It is in essence a non-event -- not worth noticing.

Please make sure that a call for ethnic cleansing does not pass as business as usual. It is and SHOULD be a BIG DEAL that the head of the lawmaking body of the United States Congress would call for the perpetration of an outright war crime, worthy of Suharto, Mobutu, Milosevic, and Ariel Sharon.

Please urage the US media to: (1) cover these remarks by Mr. Armey as newsworthy in and of themselves, and (2) issue an editorial denouncing and shaming the US leader for advocating war crimes on the record.

Please send note by going to: http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/cast/armey.asp

Please also call your paper -- visit: http://www.pmwatch.org/pmw/volunteer/calling.html

 

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In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful

CAIR ACTION ALERT #330

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@mail.house.gov, terry.holt@mail.house.gov
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org

-----

CAIR
Council on American-Islamic Relations
453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C.  20003
Tel: 202-488-8787
Fax: 202-488-0833
E-mail: cair@cair-net.org
URL: http://www.cair-net.org

=============================================================================
ADC Action Alert:
Demand Dick Armey Retract Call for Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians

Last night on MSNBC's highly-rated program Hardball, House Republican
Majority Leader Dick Armey ( R-TX) called for the ethnic cleansing of
Palestinians from the occupied territories and endorsed Israel's
conquests of those lands.  Armey said that he "is content to have a
Palestinian state" but is "not content to give up any part of Israel for
the purpose of a Palestinian state." He defined the Palestinian
territories occupied by Israel-East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza
Strip-as Israel.  He also said he has "thought this through for a lot of
years" and believes that Palestinians living in the West Bank should be
removed. Armey stated that "there are many Arab nations that have many
hundreds of thousands of acres of land, soil, and property and
opportunity to create a Palestinian state." An incredulous Chris
Mathews, host of Hardball, repeatedly gave Armey the opportunity to
clarify that he was not calling for the ethnic cleansing of all
Palestinians from Palestine, but the House Republican chief refused to
do so:

MATTHEWS: Well, just to repeat, you believe that the Palestinians who
are now living on the West Bank should get out of there?
Rep. ARMEY: Yes.

Armey's call for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians is an
endorsement of massive war crimes probably rising to the level of crimes
against humanity. Armey owes the American and Palestinian people, and
indeed the entire world, an immediate retraction and apology.  The
complete transcript of his remarks can be read in the transcript below.

ACTION REQUESTED:

ADC urges all its members and supporters to contact Dick Armey and
demand that he not only retract but also apologize for his endorsement
of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

House Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX)
301 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-4326

Tel: 202-225-7772 (Personal Office)
Fax: 202-226-2028 (Personal Office)

Tel: 202-225-4000 (Congressional Leadership Office)
Fax: 202-226-8100 (Congressional Leadership Office)

Comments can also be sent via his website at: 

TRANSCRIPT
Hardball with Chris Matthews (9:00 PM ET) - CNBC
May 1, 2002 Wednesday

CHRIS MATTHEWS, host: Congressman Dick Armey of Texas leads the
Republicans in the US House of Representatives.

Congressman Armey, Mr. Majority Leader, why is the Congress about to
pass a resolution supporting Israel at a time that the president is
trying to walk a line between Israel and its Arab neighbors?

Representative RICHARD ARMEY (Republican, Majority Leader): Well, we've
had--we feel very strongly in the House of Representatives that we have
a moral obligation to protect the safety, security and freedom of
Israel. And the Congress wants to speak on that, both bodies want to do
so. We've discussed it with the White House, and everybody is
comfortable. We will go--go ahead with that tomorrow.  It is very
important to the world that Israel be--the freedom of Israel be
protected and honored.

MATTHEWS: What good is this going to do anybody?

Rep. ARMEY: Well, I think, again, we--we want to make the point...

MATTHEWS: To whom?

Rep. ARMEY: The president of the United States is trying to make a
transition in foreign policy from what it has been to what it must be in
the future.  We can no longer appease aggressors in the Middle East.
There obviously will never be a peace.  The goal is no Jews between them
and the sea, and we must make it very clear that if you want to talk
about peace and talk the talk, you must walk the walk, and that must be
respect for Israel's right to live freely, safely and securely.

MATTHEWS: OK.  Let's talk about the realities over there.  There's a
fight between the Arabs and the--and the Israelis over who owns the
Pal--all of Palestine.  Do you support the idea that there be a
Palestine state alongside Israel?

Rep. ARMEY: I am perfectly content to have a Palestinian state alongside
Israel if it is a state that honors others borders.

MATTHEWS: You are in total, 180 disagreement with Tom Delay who said
this week that the entire West Bank belongs to Israel and it belongs to
that country that's not an Arab country.

Rep. ARMEY: I...

MATTHEWS: It should not have a statehood.

Rep. ARMEY: No, I'm perfectly content to have a Palestinian state.  I am
not content to give up any part of Israel for that purpose of that
Palestinian state.

MATTHEWS: Wait a minute.  Tom Delay's, whose resolution you're going to
put on the floor tomorrow and schedule, has said that the entire West
Bank, he calls it Judean Samaria, belongs to Israel. How can you say
that this resolution doesn't support the Delay position which is Israel
has a right to grab the entire West Bank?

Rep. ARMEY: No, I--I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank.
I'm also content to have the Palestinians have a homeland and even for
that to be somewhere near Israel, but I'm not content to see Israel give
up land for the purpose of peace to the Palestinians who will not accept
it and would not honor it.  It is time to...

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.

Rep. 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?

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

MATTHEWS: But not in Palestine?

Rep. 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.  We are not willing to sacrifice
Israel for the notion of a Palestinian homeland.

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?

Rep. ARMEY: That's right.  Palestinians say the deal should be the
Israel--that--that the Israelis leave.

MATTHEWS: Have you talked about this with the president?

Rep. ARMEY: 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?

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

MATTHEWS: Have you thought this through?

Rep. ARMEY: I have thought this through.  I've thought it through for a
lot of years.  I believe that Israel is the state for the Jewish people.
It needs to be honored.  It needs to be protected.

MATTHEWS: Yeah.  That's not what you're saying.  You're saying Israel
should expand its borders to the Jordan River...

Rep. ARMEY: No.

MATTHEWS: ...and kick out all the Palestinians?  That's what you just
said.

Rep. ARMEY: I am--I am content to have Israel occupy that land that it
now occupies and to have those people who have been aggressors against
Israel retired to some other arena, and I would be happy to have them
make a home.  I would be happy to have all of these Arab nations that
have been so hell bent to drive Israel out of the Middle East to get
together, find some land and make a home for the Palestinians.  I think
it can be done.

MATTHEWS: So the president, who has been dutifully, for the last couple
of weeks, trying to get the Israeli army to withdraw from the West Bank,
should stop that, let the Israeli defense force take over the West Bank
and hold it and make it part of Israel?  You completely disagree with
the president's policy then?

Rep. ARMEY: I am--I am perfectly content to have Israel hold and occupy
the land that it has at this moment.

MATTHEWS: Well, how about though-how about the Jenin in Samaria?  Tom
Delay, whose measure you're putting on the floor tomorrow, says that all
the West Bank, Jenin, Judea, Masada, everything belongs to Israel. It's
not occupied territory.
It's Israeli.  Is that your position?

Rep. ARMEY: Well, first of all, Chris, I think we have to be real
careful on how you are interpreting jo--Tom's provision.  I think Tom's
provision is principally and primarily that the Jewish people have a
right to defend themselves.

MATTHEWS: Well, just to repeat, you believe that the Palestinians who
are now living on the West Bank should get out of there?

Rep. ARMEY: Yes.

MATTHEWS: OK.  Thank you very much.  More with Congressman Dick Armey
coming back.  You're watching HARDBALL.
  (Announcements)

MATTHEWS: We're back with Congressman Dick Army who is head of the
Republican Party.  He's majority leader of the US House of
Representatives.

Mr. Armey, the president's people, somebody in the highest levels of
this administration, is leaking the fact that the United States is
planning to attack Iraq sometime in next year.  Do you think that would
require a congressional resolution?

Rep. ARMEY: I don't know that that leak is out there.  It's--I'm missing
it if it's out there.  I have to tell you, Chris, in the last year or
so, I've come to where I hardly trust anything I read in the papers
anymore until the president of the United States tells me himself that
he is planning such an operation.

MATTHEWS: Yeah.  So he never mentioned that in the meeting--in the
breakfast meeting today he never mentioned Iraq?

Rep. ARMEY: No, he certainly did not.  He certainly--he certainly did
not and he certainly did not talk about any kind of military operation
relative to Iraq.

MATTHEWS: Just so the people out there know where the House of
Representatives stands, does the--does the House of Representatives have
to vote to support a US military attack on Iraq if the president chooses
to make one?

Rep. ARMEY: I would think that as we've seen this president and his
father act in the past, before he took any kind of military action that
deployed our troops on a field of conflict, he would probably come to us
and ask for our support and our consideration in the matter.

MATTHEWS: Well, under the Constitution, would that be necessary?

Rep. ARMEY: I think the con--you'll have to go to a constitutional
scholar on that.  There's so much confusion on that point right now.  I
cannot answer it within a hypothetical context.

MATTHEWS: OK.  Let me ask you about this bad news we got this week from
Director Mueller, who is head of the FBI, that they haven't found a
shred of paper that gives us any idea of how the September 11th horror
was--was concocted, planned, carried out.  No evidence at all.

Rep. ARMEY: Well, I--you've got a bunch of people hiding in caves,
working out plans and scheming and plotting.  Why are we upset that we
don't have any hard paper trail on that?  I--I would never have expected
to have found one.

MATTHEWS: How do we--how do we feel that we've ended the war against
al-Qaeda and caught the people who did what they did September 11th?
How do we know we've won that war?

Rep. ARMEY: Well, I don't know for sure when you know you've won that
war. We don't know how many people are scattered all over the world.
This is a--a case even where if you caught and killed bin Laden you got
a snake that can continue to crawl and continue to be dangerous even if
the head has been cut off it.  So you have to stay vigilant for a very,
very long time.

MATTHEWS: Whose head would you rather get, Mr. Leader, Mr. Armey? Would
you rather get the head of Osama bin Laden or the head of Saddam Hussein
if you had it on the platter?  If you were a salome right now and--and
St. John was offering you a head, which head would you demand?

Rep. ARMEY: Well, I think right now the world would say 'We--we've got
to stop bin Laden who is--who has said, "I'll take this terror to every
corner of the world."'
MATTHEWS: Right.

Rep. ARMEY: Saddam Hussein is--at least is confining himself, as it is
right now, to his own territory, although we're sure he's supporting
terrorists across the world.

MATTHEWS: I like--I like you now you've said what I wanted you to say
finally which is we've got to get bin Laden.  Thank you very much, US
Congressman Dick Armey of Texas.

Rep. ARMEY: OK.

=================================
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
4201 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20008, U.S.A.
Tel: (202) 244-2990, Fax: (202) 244-3196
E-mail: adc@adc.org
Web   : http://www.adc.org

=============================================================================
Richard Armey Supports Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians 
 
Thursday, May 02 2002 @ 05:43 AM GMT 
By Ahmed Amr 

Representative Richard Armey, the House Majority Leader, a Texas Republican 
whose views are usually aligned with the White House, is publicly calling for 
the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. 

Appearing as a guest on HardBall, he repeatedly emphasized that his solution to 
the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was to forcibly remove the Palestinians from the 
West Bank and Gaza. He suggested that they can be moved to a state carved out of 
neighboring Arab countries. Chris Mathews pressed him on the point to be sure that 
Armey had no wiggle room for later retraction. 

Armey's views are now considered polite conversation in Washington. Tom Delray, the 
Majority Whip, publicly shares the same views. While the Israel Firsters in congress 
usually make an effort to hide their expultionist agenda, they have long made common 
cause with extremist right wing Likudniks. A week short of Sharon's visit to the White 
House, they are making a point of publicly contesting the 'official' Bush administration 
position advocating a two state solution. 

Expulsion of a native people from their homeland is an international war crime. It is 
the same international war crime that the Serbs attempted in Kosovo. The Serb engineers 
behind that chapter of 'social experimentation' are now facing criminal charges in the 
Hague. Perhaps the State Department should brief House members on the 'chain of command' 
concept. 

America will not soon cleanse its House of the ethnic cleansers who make no bones about 
rallying around a serial war criminal like Sharon. Whatever the personal temperament of the 
President on this issue, he cannot avoid but cave in to the advice of the Republican 
leadership in the House, especially when so many 'liberal' Democrats like Tom Lantos of 
California are on the same wagon. 

Armey's bigotry is appalling but all too common in the halls of Congress. When it comes to 
Palestinian bashing, there is no place on earth as tolerant to the repression of the 
Palestinians as the House. It is good for campaign donations. 

It is not as if the Israeli expultionist and their Jewish Lobby advocates need any 
convincing on the matter of 'transporting' the Palestinians. I am sure Armey and his pals 
will try to work out contract arrangements with Grey Hound, Amtrack or the IDF. Armey's 
racist views are shared by half the Israeli public, according to a recent survey by the 
Jaffe Institute for Strategic Studies. So, there is a real danger that Israelis will take 
such Congressional backing as a green light to submit to their darkest political fantasies. 

Armey is but one of hundreds of Congressmen and Senators who would condemn the Palestinians 
to suffer a second Nakba. These anti-Palestinian vibes are standard fare among a political 
class that constantly clamors to get attention from a very generous Israeli Lobby. In all 
fairness, it should be noted that many Israelis are quite disgusted by Armey's views and 
understand that his hate for the Palestinians does not automatically translate into love for 
Israelis or Jews. For folks like Armey and Delray, the expulsion of the Palestinians 
translates into a divine sign that the 'end is near.' Its a Bible belt thing you need to 
understand. By their estimation, sparing the Palestinians from the brutal Israeli rod would 
just postpone Armageddon. Now, who would want to delay a thing like that? 

In what has to be one of the major journalistic scoop of 2002, Chris Mathews made sure that 
Armey repeated his demonic views over and over again. The full transcript of this show is a 
must read for every American, every Palestinian, every Israeli, every Arab, every European, 
every Jew, every Christian and every Muslim. It is an essential document that will help 
explain the riddle of America's anti-Palestinian policies. 

I am no rocket scientist. But, I bet not a single Congressman or Senator will call this 
bigot to the floor. And the ugly reason is that our governors are quite comfortable with the 
idea of 'transferring' the Palestinians from the last patch of Palestine they can claim for 
a homeland. I bet the New York Times and The Washington Post will pretend they didn't hear 
what Richard Armey said to Chris Mathews. I can guarantee that our 'liberal' media will not 
make an issue of his racist plan for disposing of three million Palestinian 'problems'. I 
bet in private conversation, the Texan Armey brigades whisper about expelling 
Mexican-Americans and sending Arab-Americans and African-Americans 'back where they came 
from.' If Armey is so comfortable with advocating the expulsion of the Palestinian natives 
of the Holy Land, I am sure he would lose no sleep over throwing out Asian Americans from 
these United States. 

There is no cure for what ails the heart of the majority leader of the House or his fellow 
travelers. But the world and the Palestinians must be made aware that American policy 
towards the Palestinians is not cut out of clean cloth. It comes from the dark hearts of men 
who wish to inflict even greater evils on the Palestinians. Learn Armey's words by heart and 
you will know the heart of Congress. It would be a mistake to confuse it with the heart of 
America. But it would be a fatal mistake to ignore that men like Armey are very much 
involved in engineering a 'future for the Palestinians'. If you thought Sharon was an 
extremist, get to know Richard Armey, America's very own Likudnik. 

Here is just part of Richard Armey's exchange with Chris Mathews on HardBall (May 1, 2002): 

The exchange between Mathews and Armey started out innocently enough on why a House 
resolution was needed to support Israel, when America was supposedly trying to be an 
evenhanded third party. Armey responded that it was necessary because the Congress had a 
'moral obligation' to 'the safety, security and freedom of Israel.' It was the standard 
endorsement of Sharon's war crimes that is now quite the fashion on the hill. It is no 
secret that the Republican party is making a major play for a permanent realignment of 
American Jewish support and the Democrats are desperately worried about losing major 
financial backers from the Jewish Lobby. No indecent American politician is going to let the 
repression of the Palestinians get in the way of properly financing their war chests. 

Mathews went on to ask Armey if he supported the idea of a Palestinian State besides Israel. 
Armey's initial evasive response was that he was 'content' to have a Palestinian State 'near 
Israel.' So Mathews pressed the point and asked him bluntly "Where are you going to put the 
Palestinian State? in Norway?". Armey's response was that the Arab states have hundreds of 
thousands of acres of "land and soil and property" and went on to state that Israel should 
"occupy and hold the land it has at this moment." In affirmation of views earlier expressed 
by Rep. Delray, another Republican Texan power player, he allowed that he was "content to 
have Israel grab the entire West Bank." Sharon has deliberately sabotaged the Oslo accords 
to annex half the West Bank, but Armey has a more vicious design. Complete annexation and 
full expulsion. A 'final solution' for the Palestinians, courtesy of the House. 

Armey had this bit of logic to impart to his MSNBC audience: "Most of the people who now 
populate Israel were transported from all over the world and made it their home. The 
Palestinians can do the same." So, according to Armey, the original sin of exiling the 
Palestinians in 1948 is a good enough reason to conduct another round of ethnic cleansing. 

Chris Mathews asked Richard Armey, point blank, if he thought the Palestinians should be 
'kicked out.' Armey responded that, the Palestinians, who Armey refers to as "those people" 
and "the aggressors," should be "retired to some other Arena." His advice to the neighboring 
Arab states is to "get together, find some land and make a home for the Palestinians. I 
think it can be done." Just like Milosovic thought it "could be done". 

Chris Mathews wanted to make sure he heard Armey correctly and asked him "So, you think the 
Palestinians should get up and go and leave Palestine? Have you talked about this to the 
President?". And Armey's response was "I am telling him now." Earlier in the day, Armey had 
a breakfast meeting with Bush to discuss this very matter. If the President doesn't bother 
to respond to Armey and Delray, bet your last dollar he is willing to accommodate their 
'vision' for a Palestinian state. 

Mathews went to great lengths to give Armey an opportunity for retreat. He asked him pretty 
much the same question, a dozen times, and got pretty much the same answer. But just to nail 
down the point he asked him "Just to repeat, you believe that the Palestinians who are now 
living on the West Bank should get out of there?" Armey's response was an emphatic "Yes." 

One can have a more intelligent discourse on the subject with a tree stub, but that is not 
the point. Armey's vicious plans for the Palestinians are shared by a majority of his party, 
a majority of the Democrats, as well as by many in the 'mainstream' media. This reality will 
not change anytime soon. 

It is time for both the American public and the world community, especially the Europeans 
and the Arabs, to realize that America's governors are only capable of obstructing a 
resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. When two major American politicians, from 
the President's party, after a breakfast party with the President, come out and publicly 
endorse the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. When the American government gives a green 
light to yet another Israeli invasion and allows Sharon to defy a United Nations resolution 
to investigate war crimes in Jenin. When Netenyahu can stroll up to the Hill and command 
more attention than the President. When campaign financing comes at the cost of endorsing 
the mass expulsion of the native people of the Holy Land. When these things are done and 
said out in the open, while the Church of the Nativity burns. When America frets about Le 
Pen's dismal chances in France but does not concern itself with a horde of Le Pens in 
Washington. We got troubles right here in these United States, right here in our very own 
Congress. This coming election, let us resolve to clean our own House of ethnic cleansers. 

Before the Palestinians negotiate with Israel, they should first negotiate a firm 
anti-expulsion treaty with the United States and insist that it be ratified by Congress. If 
America cannot commit to a Palestinian right of return, it must, at the very minimum, make 
an iron-clad commitment to the right of the Palestinians to remain in the West Bank, Gaza 
and East Jerusalem. Expulsionist like Armey need to constrained before they make all 
Americans complicit in a crime against humanity. 

Editor: NileMedia.com 
   


















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