|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012100575.html
French Foreign Minister Accosted on Her Way into Gaza
(AP-Ha'aretz-Washington Post) A crowd of furious Palestinian protesters tried to block the French foreign minister on her way into Gaza on Friday, jumping on her vehicle and lying on the road. Dozens of protesters surrounded Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie's convoy at the Erez Crossing from Israel. They were angry about comments made by Alliot-Marie on Thursday in support of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants in Gaza since 2006. Hamas police eventually dispersed the protesters and allowed her through. On Thursday, Alliot-Marie met Aviva and Noam Shalit, Gilad Shalit's parents, in Jerusalem, where she said that Shalit had "been held hostage for over four years. His complete isolation and preventing any sign of life from him is completely inhumane. We demand his immediate release." Shalit is a French citizen, and France "is using all its ties in the region to advance his release," she said.