NBC NewsRAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian protesters heckled and threw eggs at Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird during a visit to the West Bank on Sunday, denouncing Ottawa’s diplomatic support for Israel. Baird was not hit, but one of the eggs smacked onto the roof of his car after a meeting with his Palestinian counterpart at the Foreign Ministry in Ramallah.
Several dozen Palestinian special forces armed with machine guns and riot gear made no effort to confront the egg-throwers among a crowd of about 100 protesters. “You’re not welcome,” the demonstrators shouted at Baird. Canada was among a handful of countries that voted against Palestinians’ successful bid to become a non-member state at the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. This month, Baird called a Palestinian move to join the International Criminal Court “concerning and dangerous.”
In a statement on Sunday, top Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat demanded an apology from Baird for visiting Israeli officials in occupied East Jerusalem last year. “We regret the Canadian government’s decision to stand on the wrong side of history by blindly supporting the Israeli occupation and its apartheid policies,” Erekat said.