Palestinians have expressed outrage over comments by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who referred to them as an “invented” people.

In an interview Friday with the Jewish Channel, a U.S. cable television station, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives departed from official American policy which supports the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Gingrich said historically, there was “no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire.” He added that “Palestinian people were, in fact, Arabs, who were historically part of the Arab community.”

On Saturday, Palestinian officials described the remarks as “despicable” and “racist.” Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called them “cheap and disgraceful” and reportedly urged the leading presidential hopeful to apologize.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Gingrich of “denying the existence of the Palestinian people,” while Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the comments represented a call for the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians.

Gingrich's spokesman said the candidate supports a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians which would include an agreement between the two sides over the borders of a Palestinian state. But Palestinian officials said Gingrich showed the world that he is not fit to be President of the United States.