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‘Sole’-searching moment for UN chief!

Last Updated on Saturday, 04 February 2012 00:53 Saturday, 04 February 2012 00:47

middle east unrest

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A Palestinian throws a shoe (circled) at the convoy of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as it enters the Erez border crossing between Israel and Gaza on Thursday. Relatives of Palestinians held in Israeli jails flung slippers at an armored convoy carrying Ban and tried to block the vehicles from entering the Gaza Strip.

GAZA CITY: Angry protesters threw shoes at UN chief Ban Ki-moon as he visited the Gaza Strip on Thursday, condemning him for failing to meet the families of Palestinian prisoners. Ban was pelted as he crossed into the Palestinian territory, where a crowd of around 50 demonstrators tried to block his convoy as it entered Gaza.

As some threw sand and stones in addition to footwear, others toted pictures of imprisoned Palestinians and signs in English reading “Ban Ki-moon, enough bias for Israel.” Ban’s convoy was able to proceed to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, but further demonstrations met him there at stops at a school and a housing project, with protesters holding banners saying “We demand a trial for Israel’s leaders.”

And a group of local NGOs and businessmen announced they were boycotting a planned lunch with the UN leader after his staff refused to allow them to bring some relatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to the meeting.

A statement signed by some of Gaza’s most prominent rights activists and businessmen said they had made “intensive efforts” to ensure relatives of Palestinian prisoners could meet Ban.

“We received an unjustified negative response indicating that the secretary-general refused to meet with representatives of families of prisoners,” the statement said.

The group expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with Ban’s decision, noting that he had met on multiple occasions with the family of an Israeli soldier who was captured by Gaza militants in 2006 and held incommunicado for five years.