Anti-American sentiment has been running high in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the beginning of the Israel-Hizbullah war three weeks ago. Aside from burning US flags and praising the insurgency in Iraq, demonstrators have also been directing much of their criticism toward US Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice, who visited Israel and Ramallah recently in a bid to resolve the crisis in Lebanon.
 Rice's visit to Ramallah, where she met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, was accompanied by calls for a general strike in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as articles and cartoons depicting her as a "black raven" and "child murderer." Shortly before Rice's heavily-guarded motorcade entered Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians marched in the center of the city, calling on Abbas to boycott her and strongly denouncing the US for its bias toward Israel. PA policemen used force to disperse the protesters, some of whom carried placards featuring Rice as a raven preying on the corpse of children.
| “Fatah officials openly expressed their backing for Hizbullah and urged the Arab countries to join the battle against Israel...” |
On Tuesday, thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah in one of the biggest shows of solidarity with Hizbullah. The rally was organized by Fatah and other factions. During the rally, Fatah officials openly expressed their backing for Hizbullah and urged the Arab countries to join the battle against Israel. Hani al-Hassan, a top Fatah leader closely associated with Abbas, declared that his party had instructed all its armed men to be prepared to fight against Israel. Calling on Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah to bomb Tel Aviv, many protesters also chanted slogans against Rice and the US. "O Condaleezza, you are a condara [shoe]," shouted a group of Fatah activists. An elderly woman yelled: "Shame on you, Condaleezza, your parents were slaves for the whites!" |