Protesters call for removal of president Mahmoud Abbas after Palestinian Authority’s lacklustre response to Israel conflict
Small shards of broken glass glinted in between paving stones in central Ramallah, one of the few physical signs of a clash the previous night between protesters and the security forces of the ruling Palestinian Authority.
Mohammed Tarifi sat with a friend on the corner of a deserted street that would normally throng with crowds stopping at its popular cafes, ice-cream vendors and juice shops. The two stared up at an enormous billboard for Sprite, a giant can of the soft drink rotating slowly in a sign of how Ramallah has grown in recent years and managed some limited prosperity as the economic and political centre of the West Bank.
