Palestinian public gives cold shoulder to Canada’s top diplomat: Arabic signs and slogans
(translated by Willa Thayer).
More than 300 Palestinians told Canada’s top diplomat in no uncertain terms Sunday that he was unwelcome in their territory.
Footage from the Palestinian Palmedia news outlet, posted on CBC’s web site, showed
protestors brandishing signs and shouting chants against John Baird outside the building in Ramallah where he was meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) officials.
“Get out, get out, John Baird,” they shouted in Arabic. “Palestine is our land, our land,” they yelled amidst hundreds of Palestinian police, including ones wearing full riot gear, and scores of journalists.
Protestors held aloft signs in Arabic reading, “Canada supports terrorism. No welcome for
Baird,” and, “He who supports Israeli terrorism should be received with a shoe.”
The footage did not clearly show Baird being pelted with eggs, as was widely reported, but it did give a glimpse of a flurry of activity behind him as he was leaving the government building to climb into his high speed security convoy, which may have been when the incident occurred.
There were no indications in Palmedia footage of protestors’ political affiliations, such as the names of political parties on the banners shown. It is probable that many political tendencies were represented, including the ruling Fatah party, with which Canada has had cordial reciprocal relations for most of the period since the PA was established in 1994.
But the PA’s frustration with the unwillingness of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to criticize Israel publicly over illegal Israeli settlements and settler violence against Palestinians has contributed to a deep rift between Fatah and Canada, as was evident in an opinion piece Saturday in The Globe and Mail by Palestinian diplomat Saeb Erekat.
A Reuters news agency clip showing the anti-Baird protests, posted on The Globe and Mail’s web site, recorded protestors chanting in Arabic, “Oh Palestinian minister, how can you shake hands with criminals?” That footage gave an indication of political affiliations, showing an Arabic sign sayinig that the protestor was from the “Fatah Popular Movement,” which read, “Canada supports Israeli terrorism and, accordingly, settlement. No welcome for Baird.”
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This blurb is not meant to fully cover the visit to Ramallah but to provide a translation of the Arabic chants and sign slogans through which several hundred protestors voiced their opinions. Note also that the final syllable of the chant “Palestine is our land, our land” is partially cut in the audio, making the “our” only partly discernible. Still, it was clear enough to make a reasonable guess.
Here is where the Palmedia clip is posted:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/john-baird-s-convoy-pelted-with-eggs-in-west-bank-1.2916979
Saeb Erekat’s piece in the Globe
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/it-is-john-baird-who-needs-to-apologize-to-the-palestinian-people/article22488148/
The Globe’s news story on Baird’s visit in which the Reuters clip appears:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/palestinians-protest-bairds-visit-by-hurling-eggs-shoes-at-convoy/article22508699
SPHR QUEENS 