Saturday, January 22, 2011

Misunderstanding - In Gaza, MAM heckled because of a misunderstanding

The French foreign minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, was heckled, Friday, January 21, by a few tens of Palestinian demonstrators when he arrived at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza and one of the members of his delegation, hit in the head. The protesters had earlier launched the same shoes and jeers at his convoy, just after entering the Gaza Strip to protest against statements attributed mistakenly by the Arabic service of Israeli radio to the minister.

These remarks, made in the presence of the French minister on Thursday by the father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped French, calling his detention secret "war crime". "There Gilad Shalit, but also 7,000 Palestinian prisoners," could be read placards waved at the passing of Michele Alliot-Marie in Gaza.

A large sign on a photo of Ms. Alliot-Marie had crossed a red line with the inscription "Get out of Gaza" ("Get out of Gaza"). Arriving by bus to the hospital, the protestors then continued Ms. Alliot-Marie to the hotel entrance, where they were kept outside by the stewards. Amid the crush at the entrance and exit of the hospital, whose emergency department has been rehabilitated in December with the help of France, the French foreign minister has remained cheerful and unruffled.

During his meeting with Noam Shalit, Ms Alliot-Marie had agreed to urge the EU to "get the message that the prisoner receives visits from the Red Cross." Valerie Hoffenberg, a member of the French delegation, said she was "shocked" and "surprised at the hatred" encountered during this eventful visit.

"When we receive such a welcome, one wonders if it was good to come," he told the Special Representative of France to the peace process in the Middle East, which has itself received a blow to the head during the stampede. France calls for "ending" the blockade of the Gaza Strip "in the name of the values of freedom and dignity," said the head of French diplomacy during his first visit to Gaza.

"The blockade of Gaza breeds poverty and breeds violence. On behalf of the values of freedom and dignity that we share, France calls on Israel to stop it," said Alliot-Marie in a speech Friday in the French cultural center in Gaza. The French foreign minister reiterated that the frontiers of 1967 formed the basis for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for the EU, in an interview published Friday by the Palestinian daily Al-Quds.

MmeAlliot Mary, touring the Middle East since Thursday, has also claimed to have launched an invitation for February 3 to all parties concerned for a dinner followed by the Paris conference on aid to the Palestinian state.
Posted by Manlio Gandolfi at 3:45 AM

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