By Mel Frykberg
"RAMALLAH, May 12 (IPS) - Yet another sign of the growing unpopularity of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) was evident on the streets of Ramallah last weekend.
Demonstrators ripped apart hundreds of posters of PA President Mahmoud Abbas that were plastered on walls and buildings along the street leading to the heavily fortified compound known as the Muqata, the PA government headquarters.
All this was done within spitting distance of the heavily armed soldiers who patrol the sidewalks and roads leading to the Muqata.
The popularity of Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, has plunged to an all-time low in the wake of allegations of corruption, and of collusion with Israel during its bloody January offensive in Gaza which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians.
PA security forces have carried out mass arrest campaigns against political opponents mostly from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Those arrested have included sympathisers not attached to the military wings of either organisation. Human rights organisations have alleged widespread torture.
Recent polls have shown that the PA's popularity has dropped to an all-time low....."
"RAMALLAH, May 12 (IPS) - Yet another sign of the growing unpopularity of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) was evident on the streets of Ramallah last weekend.
Demonstrators ripped apart hundreds of posters of PA President Mahmoud Abbas that were plastered on walls and buildings along the street leading to the heavily fortified compound known as the Muqata, the PA government headquarters.
All this was done within spitting distance of the heavily armed soldiers who patrol the sidewalks and roads leading to the Muqata.
The popularity of Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, has plunged to an all-time low in the wake of allegations of corruption, and of collusion with Israel during its bloody January offensive in Gaza which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians.
PA security forces have carried out mass arrest campaigns against political opponents mostly from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Those arrested have included sympathisers not attached to the military wings of either organisation. Human rights organisations have alleged widespread torture.
Recent polls have shown that the PA's popularity has dropped to an all-time low....."
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