RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY, 11 January 2008 — Angry demonstrators in the West Bank town of Ramallah branded US President George W. Bush a “war criminal” yesterday as locals said he would do nothing for the plight of the Palestinians.
Security forces, out in force to ensure the security of the American leader on his first trip to the occupied Palestinian territory, used batons and tear gas as they charged around 200 demonstrators who were chanting “Bush, war criminal!” and “Bush out!”
While their leader Mahmoud Abbas gave Bush a red carpet welcome on the second day of his Middle East tour, ordinary Palestinians were dismissive. “I don’t believe he will do anything for the Palestinians,” said Mohammed Khaldi, 64. “If he wanted to really do something, he had six years for that and he didn’t do a single thing.”
Around 4,000 security officers sealed off the area around the Palestinian Authority compound known as the Moqata to pedestrian and vehicle traffic, with numerous checkpoints set up to verify the identification of any passers-by. Bush was in the West Bank on the latest leg of a trip aimed at pushing forward the peace process, which has stumbled since its revival six weeks ago over Jewish settlements and Israeli-Palestinian violence.
He had been due to fly into Ramallah aboard his Marine One helicopter but was grounded by thick fog which covered the city and nearby Jerusalem, so was forced to travel in a road convoy instead. Armed Israeli soldiers lined the route from the King David Hotel to the Beit El checkpoint where military responsibility switched to Palestinian control as the presidential limousine hurtled along the normally congested streets.
Snipers and spotters scoured the area as security chiefs took no chances with the safety of the US leader with about 4,000 men law enforcement officers out on the streets. Authorities issued an order banning locals from climbing on to rooftops to watch the arrival of only the second sitting US president to visit the Palestinian territories.
The area was under an effective curfew after security chiefs compiled a list of the names of residents living within the security cordon around the leadership compound and banned outsiders from entering the zone.
But these measures, combined with Bush’s failure to stop at the mausoleum of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat — usually an obligation for visiting dignitaries — angered residents.
“It is to be expected that he would not visit Arafat’s tomb, because the United States are partly responsible for his death,” said greengrocer Yasser Iqab, 36.
Rasha Qawas, 36, who lives near the Muqata, chose to leave her home and stay with her brother during Bush’s visit and said she felt the US president had showed contempt for Palestinian tradition.
“The Americans are proud of their history and their symbols. By ignoring the mausoleum set up as our monument to historic leader Yasser Arafat, Bush is showing contempt for all our sacrifices,” she said. Mohammad Al-Batrawi, who also lives nearby, said he was not surprised by Bush’s snub, since the US leader had boycotted Arafat during the last years of his life.
Most Israelis are skeptical about the effect Bush’s visit will have on peace talks with the Palestinians, according to an opinion poll published yesterday.
At least 77 percent of Israelis doubt that Bush’s visit will have an effect on peace talks, while 21 percent think his visit could advance negotiations, according to the survey in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.
The tabloid Maariv said that in his talks, Bush pressured Israel to make good on its commitments under the 2003 roadmap international peace blueprint.
“Beneath the inevitable festive front ... it was possible to also take notice of embarrassing friction,” it wrote. The tensions “reflected only part of the pressure applied by the American president in his talks behind closed doors with Olmert.
Unknown gunmen fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at the American International School in northern Gaza, hours before Bush’s arrival in Ramallah.
The head of the school, Ribhi Salem, told reporters that before dawn yesterday, three gunmen broke into the school and asked the school’s guards to leave. They then fired an RPG toward the second floor of the school. The grenade badly damaged the art hall in the second floor.
He believed that the attack on the private school comes in a protest on Bush visit to the West Bank. Salem condemned that attack saying that, “The school’s staff and students are all Palestinians and it is licensed by the Ministry of Education and it mission is purely educational and it has nothing to do with politics.” He also denied any fund or support from the US.
In April, the school was exposed to explosion by a group named itself “Swords of Right” in response for the American policy in the region.
Meanwhile, in response to Bush’s statements at a joint press conference with Abbas, Hamas spokesman Taher Al-Nunu said that they focused on deepening the rift between the Palestinians.
“He spoke about deepening the rift among the Palestinians and increasing the gravity of the divisions. He is coming to promote the rift and division and to incite one party against the other to the interest of Israel,” Nunu told the reporters.
