“You know, he made his protest and that’s fair enough,” said Blair. “I think it’s important for you guys as well to not always mistake the protest for the general view of the whole population.” Of course. The vast, vast majority dearly want peace, eh?
“Protester assails Blair in Palestinian mosque,” from Reuters, October 20 (thanks to all who sent this in):
HEBRON, West Bank, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Bodyguards subdued a Palestinian man on Tuesday as he approached Middle East envoy Tony Blair, shouting “You are a terrorist.”
The former British prime minister was verbally assailed while visiting an ancient mosque during an official trip to the West Bank city of Hebron.
The protester, carrying a bag, was backed into a corner by guards who tried to shut him up. “He is not welcome in the land of Palestine,” the struggling man shouted.
Blair, 56, is envoy for the “Quartet” of powers on the Middle East, comprising the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations.
He gave a tight-lipped smile and a pacifying wave in the general direction of the shouting man, and afterwards played down the incident as a “protest and that’s fair enough”, but not one that should be viewed as typical of local feelings.
Most Palestinians and Israelis want the conflict “resolved in a peaceful way”, he said. They understand “it’s not going to be resolved unless we find a way of creating two states, a state of Israel and a state of Palestine side by side in peace.”…
And what will prevent that Palestinian state from becoming a new base for the jihad against Israel? Why, nothing.
“You know, he made his protest and that’s fair enough,” Blair told reporters once the man was removed. “I think it’s important for you guys as well to not always mistake the protest for the general view of the whole population,” he said.