<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Gazans mob French minister in&nbsp;mix-up]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div class="metadata">
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<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/gazans-mob-french-minister-in-mix-up-2011-01-21-1.345086"><img src='https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/11061308252.png' alt='' /></a></p>
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<p></span>AFP</div>
<div class="publish-date"><span class="label">Published</span> Friday, January 21, 2011</div>
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<p>Angry Palestinians mobbed French Foreign Minister Michele  Alliot-Marie as she visited occupied Gaza on Friday in a mix-up over a  &#8220;war crimes&#8221; quote mistakenly attributed to her.</p>
<p>The foreign minister, on her first visit to the enclave since taking  over the post in November, was met by angry protesters as her convoy  arrived, then again as she visited a hospital in Gaza City.</p>
<p>During the visit, the underfire Alliot-Marie in a speech issued an  impassioned call for an end to Israel&#8217;s blockade of the impoverished  Palestinian territory.</p>
<p>The protests began early in the day when her road convoy was stopped  by dozens of demonstrators waving signs reading &#8220;Get out of Gaza&#8221; who  hammered on her car with their fists.</p>
<p>Others hurled shoes and one jumped on top of her car in a protest  over a statement which was mistakenly attributed to Alliot-Marie when  she met with the parents of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in  Jerusalem on Thursday.</p>
<p>At the meeting, father Noam Shalit asked Alliot-Marie to press the  European Union to &#8220;condemn as a war crime&#8221; the detention of his son, an  AFP correspondent at the scene said.</p>
<p>Shortly afterwards, however, Israel&#8217;s public radio posted a story on  its Arabic-language website mistakenly quoting Alliot-Marie as saying  the EU &#8220;must condemn the war crime that Hamas is committing by keeping  Gilad Shalit in captivity.&#8221;</p>
<p>Among the protesters were women and children holding placards of men kept behind bars in Israel.</p>
<p>One person shouted slogans through a loudhailer, angrily denouncing  the &#8220;war crimes&#8221; statement, while another was holding up a large picture  of Alliot-Marie with a crude red line drawn across her face.</p>
<p>As the demonstrators jostled the car, two children, terrified and  crying, were flung to the ground in front of the wheels of the lead  vehicle convoy of white 4&#215;4 jeeps, and stayed there for several minutes  before being hauled away by their families.</p>
<p>Hamas police eventually cleared the protesters allowing the convoy to continue its way to Gaza City.</p>
<p>&#8220;There were between 30 and 50 demonstrators, it wasn&#8217;t very serious,&#8221;  the minister told reporters afterwards. &#8220;Among the demonstrators were  mothers whose sadness I can understand, but there were others who had  other intentions.&#8221;</p>
<p>She then set off for the Al Quds hospital which has been newly-renovated with French funding.</p>
<p>But there too Alliot-Marie was met by angry protesters, who shoved  and jostled the security detail surrounding her as she went in, an AFP  correspondent said, although they did not manage to physically reach  her.</p>
<p>One hurled a shoe which was deftly caught by one of the bodyguards as Alliot-Marie ducked out of the way.</p>
<p>In light of the protests, the delegation cancelled a planned visit to  the new site of the French cultural centre, saying it was &#8220;too open.&#8221;</p>
<p>The &#8220;war crimes&#8221; quote was published on the website of the  Arabic-language website of Israel public radio, and it was repeated in  other Arabic news media &#8212; even prompting a sharply-worded response from  Gaza&#8217;s Hamas rulers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hamas considers the statement made by the French foreign minister  which described kidnapping Shalit as a &#8216;war crime&#8217; is biased since  Shalit was kidnapped from the battlefield,&#8221; said a Hamas statement  released on Thursday.</p>
<p>&#8220;We reject these statements and we call upon France to review such positions which do not serve the French role in the region.&#8221;</p>
<p>Shalit has not been seen by outside observers or Red Cross  representatives since his capture in a deadly raid along the Gaza border  by Palestinian militants in June 2006.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/gazans-mob-french-minister-in-mix-up-2011-01-21-1.345086">Gazans mob French minister in mix-up &#8211; Emirates24|7</a>.</p>
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