It’s tempting to write something uncharitable about this
Arbour, a former Supreme Court of Canada justice, was not hurt when rockets landed a few hundred metres away from her entourage at a factory, but a worker at the facility was seriously injured.
After Arbour’s group heard a loud explosion and saw plumes of smoke, Israeli rescue officials immediately rushed to the scene.
“I was on the outskirts of a factory immediately after it was hit,” Arbour said.
“I understand somebody was seriously wounded and so I think first of all I want to express my deepest sympathy for the people, for the family of the person who was wounded and say how much I share their sense of hopelessness, and vulnerability and frustration, frankly, to have been so exposed.”
No. she doesn’t. And Israelis know it.
She started her tour Monday in the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, where she met with the families of 19 Palestinian civilians killed by errant Israeli artillery fire.
She angered Israeli officials by condemning Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip and told Palestinians that the world has not abandoned them.
On Tuesday, after the rocket attack, she expressed sympathy for Israelis in Sderot, a town that Israeli officials say has been targeted by at least 1,000 Palestinian Kassam rockets since the start of the year.
Arbour, who continued her tour with the mayor of Sderot, got an angry reception from a few residents who believe the United Nations is biased against Israel. Some people pounded on her car, while several workers at a chicken-slaughtering plant threw stones at her vehicle and shouted curses when she came to see the result of Palestinian rocket fire firsthand.
Update: For all the coverage her “close call”, this development seems to have received coverage only in the Israeli press; – “Louise Arbour has decided not to meet with the families of the kidnapped soldiers during her visit to Israel . The families of Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit have approached the commissioner two weeks ago already, but after a series of evasive answers, the negative and final answer came Tuesday.”
h/t to Maz2 in the comments.
