Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of West Bank cities Monday in support of president Mahmud Abbas's visit to Washington for talks with Barack Obama about the peace process with Israel. Demonstrators waved the Palestinian national flag as well as that of Abbas's Fatah party, chanting "we are with you, president!" as Abbas was to weigh up an anticipated US request to extend the faltering negotiations with Israel.
"We're here today to stand up to pressures upon us and make sure president Abbas adheres to his convictions," said Nasser Eddin al-Shaer - former Palestinian education minister and member of Fatah's Islamist rivals Hamas - who joined a 5,000-strong rally in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Some 1,500 people turned out in the West Bank administrative centre of Ramallah, and more than 1,000 in the southern flashpoint city of Hebron.