A Palestinian man chants slogans against Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird as Baird meets with his Palestinian counterpart in the West Bank city of Ramallah
A Palestinian man chants slogans against Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird as Baird meets with his Palestinian counterpart in the West Bank city of Ramallah January 18, 2015. Around a hundred Palestinian protesters heckled and threw eggs at Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird during his visit to the West Bank on Sunday, escalating a years-long diplomatic row. Canada was among a handful of countries that voted against Palestinians' successful bid to become a non-member state at the United Nations General Assembly in 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird was attacked by Palestinian protesters on Sunday. They threw shoes and eggs at Baird during his visit to Ramallah.

Baird suffered the attack that was apparently a symbolic act of defiance toward Canada's perceived pro-Israel stance. Baird visited the Palestinian city in the central West Bank to meet Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki. His convoy was pelted by the demonstrators who held signs that said that Baird was not welcome in Palestine. Some signs also claimed Jerusalem to be Palestine's capital. Even though the protesters hurled shoes and eggs toward Baird, media reports confirm that the Canadian foreign minister was not hit.

Baird, on the other hand, seemed unperturbed about the incident. He has said that he got "a lot worse" when he had been in Mike Harris' cabinet for four years. He has, however, said that Canada takes a strong position supporting the only liberal and democratic state in the region. "We take the view that a peace process, progress is best made at the negotiating table and not through unilateral actions on the other side," The Star quotes Baird, "We're proud of that position, we believe it's the best one and don't apologize for it."

Abdullah Abu-Rahmeh, one of the demonstrators, accused Baird of backing up the Zionist movement. He said that Baird diminished the rights of Palestinian people while taking part and backing up building of settlements. Fatah party activists earlier called for a boycott of the Canadian foreign minister because of Canada's foreign policies for the Middle East. The chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said that Canada was on the "wrong side of history by blindly supporting the Israeli occupation and its apartheid policies." He asked Baird to apologise for standing in the way of recognising an independent state of Palestine. Erekat said that Baird had owed an apology to Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians.

Baird defended Israel's right to defend itself in a statement. CTV News reports that, according to Baird, Canada extends strong support for Israel's right to defend itself by itself and its right to live in peace with its neighbours. Baird says that Canada will fight efforts to delegitimise the State of Israel, including the disturbing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au