Obama faces a chilly reception in West Bank

Daily News Article   —   Posted on March 21, 2013
image788(by Maher Abukhater and Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times)  RAMALLAH, West Bank – As Israelis roll out new red carpet and line streets with American flags for President Obama’s visit, the U.S. leader faces a decidedly less enthusiastic reception in the West Bank, where the mood ranges from ho-hum to don’t come.

On Tuesday, dozens of protesters called on Obama to cancel visits to Ramallah [a Palestinian city in the West Bank] and Bethlehem, complaining that the president had failed to do enough to bring them statehood.

Posters of Obama that had been hung along the streets of Ramallah in recent days were defaced Tuesday with spray-painted Xs or, in one case, a swastika. In Bethlehem, a poster was torn down and placed in the road. Some people threw their shoes at the president’s image.

Members of the militant group Hamas warned that if Obama attempted to visit Muslim holy sites such as the Dome of the Rock or Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, which are not on his itinerary, Palestinians would riot.

“We are here to tell Obama that he is not welcome because of his support for Israel,” said Omar Assaf, one of the protest organizers from the group Palestinians for Dignity. “U.S. policy supports Israel, which occupies our land. Our people are going to say no to whoever supports the occupation.”

The anger stems largely from Palestinians’ belief that Obama, despite his promises during a 2009 speech in Cairo, has done little to advance their bid for independence and statehood.

Instead, many here blame Obama for working against them in the United Nations, where the U.S. vetoed a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and blocked a Palestinian Authority bid for U.N. membership. Palestinians ultimately won an upgraded status from the international body last fall, and the U.S. was one of the few countries to side with Israel in voting against the measure.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “went out of his way to tell Obama and Israel that he wants peace,” said Jamil Shaker, 24, an unemployed accountant in Ramallah. “He got nothing in return except more pressure. Obama fought Abbas in every step he took to gain independence the peaceful way. How can a person like this win our trust?”

The U.S. also withheld nearly $250 million promised to the Palestinian Authority last year, though Obama is expected to announce the release of some of that money during his visit.

Perceptions of a pro-Israel bias, along with the lack of peace talks and worsening financial crisis in the West Bank, are fueling anti-Western sentiments among Palestinians. This month dozens of students attacked a car carrying Britain’s envoy to the Palestinian territories, forcing him to cancel a speech at Birzeit University near Ramallah.

The Obama administration has said the president is not bringing any new peace initiatives with him, leading many Palestinians to complain that the visit is more about improving relations with Israel than reaching out to them.

“Expectations are and should be very, very low,” said Rashid Khalidi, a Columbia University professor and former Palestinian negotiator.

Abbas and other leaders have been trying to contain public frustration to avoid any embarrassing demonstrations during Obama’s visit. Some low-level government workers in Ramallah have been told to stay home for the rest of the week, and a security cordon is expected to keep a wide distance between the president and any crowds that might gather, Palestinian officials said.

Abbas will meet with the president Thursday. On Friday, Obama will tour the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Hoping to generate public enthusiasm about the visit, the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem this week released a video of a 75-second rap song on YouTube, composed and performed by Hebron youths and produced by the consulate. But many of comments on the consulate’s Facebook page were negative and critical of the president’s visit.

“We’ve heard Obama’s promises in the past and saw his actions,” said Omar Shehada, 24, an unemployed Ramallah resident. “Why should we expect that he’s going to change now?”

Special correspondent Abukhater reported from Ramallah and Times staff writer Sanders from Jerusalem.

Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from the Los Angeles Tmes. Visit the website at latimes.com. 



Background

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ISRAEL:

  • The area of modern Israel is small, 8,367 square miles, about the size of New Jersey, and is located roughly on the site of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
  • It is the birthplace of the Hebrew language spoken in Israel and of monotheism, first as Judaism and later of Christianity.
  • It contains sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
  • Although coming under the sway of various empires and home to a variety of ethnicities, the area was predominantly Jewish until the Jewish-Roman wars [approximately 70 A.D.] after which Jews became a minority in most regions, except Galilee.
  • The region became increasingly Christian after the 3rd century and then largely Muslim from the 7th Century Arab conquest up until the 20th century.
  • The area, commonly referred to as the Holy Land or Palestine, became a focal point of conflict between Christianity and Islam between 1096 and 1291 and from the end of the Crusades until the British conquest in 1917 was part of the Syrian province of first the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and then (from 1517) the Ottoman Empire.
  • In the late-19th century, persecution of Jews in Europe led to the creation of the Zionist movement, which was eventually able to win international support for a Jewish-majority state on the site of the ancient kingdoms.
  • Following the British conquest of Syria in the First World War and the formation of thePalestinian Mandate, Jewish immigration to Palestine increased and gave rise to Arab-Jewish tensions and a collision of the Arab and Jewish nationalist movements.
  • Israeli independence in 1948 was marked by massive immigration of Jews from both Europe [many who were survivors of the Holocaust] and the Islamic world to Israel, and of Arabs from Israel leading to extensive conflict with the Arab League.
  • About 42% of the world’s Jews live in Israel today.
  • Since about 1970, the United States has become the principal ally of Israel.
  • In 1979 an uneasy peace was established with Egypt, based on the Camp David Accords and in 1993 peace treaties were signed with the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization, led by Yassar Arafat] and in 1994 with Jordan.
  • However, conflict with the Arab states and the Palestinians, many of whom live in Israel itself or in territory occupied by Israel after the 1967 war, continues to play a major role in Israeli (and international) political, social and economic life. (from wikipedia)

  • ON ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS: (from wikipedia)

    • Israeli settlements are communities inhabited by Israelis in territory that was captured during the 1967 Six-Day War.
    • Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank, which is partially under Israeli military administration and partially under the control of the Palestinian National Authority, and in the Golan Heights, which are under Israeli civilian administration.
    • (An additional eighteen settlements formerly existed in the Sinai Peninsula, twenty-one in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank. The settlers were forced to leave by the Israeli military as part of Israeli withdrawals from these areas in 1982 (Sinai) and 2005.)
    • Israeli policies toward these settlements have ranged from active promotion to removal by force, and their continued existence and expansion since the 1970s is one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.