WEST BANK: Thousands rally in West Bank cities in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama

Record ID: 565116

  • Title: WEST BANK: Thousands rally in West Bank cities in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama
  • Date: 17th March 2014
  • Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (MARCH 17, 2014) (REUTERS) HUNDREDS OF PALESTINIANS GATHERED IN THE MAIN SQUARE OF RAMALLAH RALLYING IN SUPPORT OF PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS VARIOUS OF CROWD MAN CARRYING HAND-WRITTEN SIGN IN ARABIC READING "OUR CHOICE...OUR LEADERSHIP PROTECTS OUR NATIONAL PROJECT" MEDICS STANDING DURING RALLY LARGE SIGN IN ARABIC READING "ONWARDS MR. PRESIDENT...NO LOOKING BACK ON PRINCIPLES...AND NO ALTERNATIVE TO THE RIGHT OF RETURN" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN WOMAN RALLYING, SAWSAN SHAHEEN, SAYING: "The Palestinian president left Palestine saying that he is going and will not give in, will not give up on Jerusalem. And we came here today to say that we will not surrender or concede, and we will not accept extending the negotiations. We hope that this message that the Palestinian president delivered before he left that it remain the same message upon his return and after his meeting with the United States President Barack Obama." HEBRON, WEST BANK (MARCH 17, 2014) (REUTERS) ***SOUND QUALITY AS INCOMING*** HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AT RALLY /SEEN FROM ABOVE CROWD CROWD AND PEOPLE SITTING ON METAL CONTAINER WAVING YELLOW FATAH FLAGS PEOPLE HOLDING FLAGS MAN CHANTING SLOGANS ON MICROPHONE MEN CHANTING PEOPLE SITTING ON CONTAINER WAVING FLAGS DEMONSTRATORS CARRYING POSTER OF MOHAMMED DAHLAN, ABBAS' RIVAL, WITH A LARGE "X" ACROSS HIS FACE AND THE WORDS "TO THE TRASH BIN OF HISTORY" MAN TAKING PICTURES WITH HIS PHONE PEOPLE STOMPING ON POSTER OF DAHLAN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN MAN RALLYING, ODEH RAJABI, SAYING: "We stand today unified, thousands from the city of Hebron to say to President Mahmoud Abbas, that we are with you to reject all the pressures, we are with you to insist on Palestinians principles on the Palestinian unified position and for a cause that tens of thousands have died and got injured for." BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (MARCH 17, 2014) (REUTERS) DOZENS OF PEOPLE GATHERED IN THE NATIVITY SQUARE SCHOOL CHILDREN HOLDING POSTER READING "ONWARDS MR PRESIDENT, WE ARE BEHIND YOU" MAN WRITING NEXT TO LARGE POSTER OF DAHLAN "SPY" AND "TRAITOR" MAN STANDING NEXT TO LARGE PALESTINIAN FLAG PEOPLE STOMPING ON POSTER OF DAHLAN WHITE BALLOONS LET INTO AIR AS BELLS OF THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY RING VARIOUS OF CHURCH BELLS RINGING
  • Embargoed: 1st April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADJBVKN7MG8OTECQDU8GWOF8SD
  • Story Text: Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets on Monday (March 17) to show their support for President Mahmoud Abbas, who is under heavy pressure as he prepares to meet U.S. President Barack Obama.
    Abbas, scheduled to see Obama later in the day in Washington, complained last week that he had come under great duress during U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Israelis, which are due to expire next month in the absence of any accord.
    Adding to his diplomatic concerns, Abbas has got entangled in a slanging match with an exiled rival, Mohammed Dahlan.
    Abbas accused Dahlan of involvement in six murders, hinting that he might also be behind the death of former leader Yasser Arafat.
    Dahlan, who lives in exile in the Gulf, denied the allegations of his arch foe Abbas, their bitter row now playing out publicly across the Palestinian media and on social media. He also did a two-hour interview on Egyptian Television.
    The interview sent shockwaves through the Palestinian Territories, which is not used to seeing such political acrimony played out on their screens, and Abbas' supporters rallied in a swathe of towns in the occupied West Bank.
    Palestinians rallied in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem, waving Fatah flags and banners reading, "Our choice is our leadership, the protector of our national project," banners read.
    Sawsan Shaheen, who was rallying in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, said that she hoped Abbas would not give in to U.S. pressures.
    "The Palestinian president left Palestine saying that he is going and will not give in, will not give up on Jerusalem. And we came here today to say that we will not surrender or concede, and we will not accept extending the negotiations," Shaheen said.
    "We hope that this message that the Palestinian president delivered before he left that it remain the same message upon hi s return and after his meeting with the United States President Barack Obama," she added.
    "We stand today unified, thousands from the city of Hebron to say to President Mahmoud Abbas, that we are with you to reject all the pressures, we are with you to insist on Palestinians principles on the Palestinian unified position and for a cause that tens of thousands have died and got injured for," Hebron resident Odeh Rajabi said.
    The primary focus of Monday's protests were efforts by the United States to secure a framework deal between the Israelis and Palestinians that will extend negotiations beyond the initial end-of-April deadline.
    The talks are aimed at creating an independent Palestinian state and end decades of conflict, but despite almost nine months of meetings, there has been no sign of progress.
    Abbas has said he will not agree to demands being made by the Israelis, including that he should recognise Israel as a Jewish State.
    But Dahlan, who is seen as a potential successor to Abbas, scoffed at the idea that the Palestinian president would remain faithful to his uncompromising rhetoric.
    During the rally in Bethlehem a demonstrator wrote the words "spy" and "traitor" on a large poster of Dahlan before half a dozen people began stomping on his picture.
    Later, in a show of support to Abbas, balloons were flung in the sky to the sound of the bells of the Church of the Nativity, the believed birthplace of Jesus.
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