Gazans showed their gratitude for the foreign aid donated to the region from Qatar this week when Ambassador Mohammed al-Emadi came to announce the details of a new grant at a hospital in the enclave.
The ambassador was attacked and his life threatened on Tuesday after he announced details of an Emiri Qatari grant at a news conference at Dar al-Shifar Hospital.
Emadi was forced to leave the area under direct threat to his life, according to a report by the Arabic daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat.
According to the report, one of the maintenance workers at the hospital had asked Emadi after the briefing about employees’ salaries. The ambassador responded that the grant didn’t have anything to do with the employees’ salaries, and that the issue was one that should be addressed with the Palestinian Authority and the Health Ministry.
But the workers, including many hospital staff, hadn’t been paid in five months.
And the Health Ministry had ordered the cleaning companies to send of all its maintenance workers to the news briefing, waving banners and pictures of the Emir, to show support and hopefully inspire more aid.
The workers obviously were hoping for direct relief and were angered by the ambassador’s political diplomacy. In response they hurled shoes at him, tore the photos of the emir and the banners thanking Qatar for its financial aid, as Emadi was swiftly escorted from the area by security personnel.
Health Ministry officials and the Hamas leadership subsequently apologized to the ambassador, according to the report.