Ugandan President Refers to Israel as 'Palestine' during Netanyahu Visit

[TomSea]

Ugandan President Refers to Israel as 'Palestine' during Netanyahu Visit

KAMPALA, UGANDA—

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Uganda on Monday, kicking off a four-country tour of East Africa. The trip is seen as a significant event for the region, which no Israeli leader had visited in 30 years.

However, the day was marred by controversy when Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's repeatedly referred to Israel as Palestine during a speech.

The president was talking about Operation Entebbe, in which Israeli commandos rescued hostages from Uganda's Entebbe International Airport after an Air France flight was hijacked by Palestinian militants.

"The sad event, 40 years ago, turned into another bond linking Palestine to Africa," Museveni said. "I said this is yet another bond between Africa and Palestine because there were earlier bonding events."

Many Ugandans openly wondered on Twitter who could have written his speech, predicting that heads would roll for the mistake. Others called the mix-up "gafffetastic," while some wondered about Museveni's state of mind.

More At: http://www.voanews.com/content/netanyahu-visits-africa/3403114.html