After Tel Aviv rally, Palestinians hold anti-annexation protest in Ramallah
Following criticism that the Palestinians have not been organizing protests against Israel’s intention to extend its sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, the Palestinian ruling Fatah faction on Monday organized a demonstration in Ramallah against the Israeli plan.
The protest came two days after thousands of Jews and Arabs gathered in Tel Aviv to demonstrate against the annexation plan.
After the Rabin Square event, several Palestinian political activists said they found it ironic that more Israelis were demonstrating against the annexation plan than Palestinians.
Palestinian Authority and Fatah officials have called for “mass protests” in the West Bank to foil the Israeli plan. However, in the past few weeks only a small number of Palestinians have taken to the streets to voice their opposition to the plan.
Several PLO and Fatah officials participated in Monday’s demonstration in Ramallah, during which dozens of protesters chanted slogans denouncing the plan and calling for unity among Palestinians.
Mahmoud Aloul, deputy chairman of Fatah, said in a speech during the protest that the rally proves that the Palestinian public supports the Palestinian leadership’s policies, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to “end all agreements” with Israel.
“We came here to say that we are all united in confronting the occupation,” Aloul said. “We are fully confident of our capability to thwart their [Israel’s] schemes. But this requires joint work and unity.”
Wasel Abu Yusef, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, told the protesters that the Palestinians would continue to demonstrate against the Israeli plan.
“Our people are united in their rejection of the Israeli annexation policy,” he said. “This policy comes in the context of the so-called American ‘Deal of the Century.’”
A Palestinian political activist in Ramallah said that despite repeated appeals from various Palestinian factions, many Palestinians have thus far refrained from holding mass protests against the Israeli plan. “Many Palestinians have lost confidence in their leaders and political factions, largely due to unclear policies and corruption,” the analyst told The Jerusalem Post. “The continued dispute between Fatah and Hamas is also another reason why Palestinians are disillusioned with their leaders.”
The analyst said it was “disgraceful” the Palestinian leaders decided to hold a protest in Ramallah only after they saw that thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday night against the annexation plan.