Several hundred Palestinians held a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, after he was criticized for attending the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres.
“Regardless of whether we agree with him or not about the visit which he sees as politically justified, President Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) will remain the symbol of the Palestinian legitimacy. And we will not accept that anyone would regard him as less patriotic,” said Abu Alabed, Palestinian supporter of Mahmoud Abbas.
While supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waved the flags of his Fatah party and carried banners showing his picture, opponents of the Palestinian leader looked on with disapproval.
“Today is the funeral of the martyr, as opposed to the funeral of the criminal which the Palestinian president attended. This is an outrage, the loss of our sense of national dignity,” Rula Abu Dihho, Palestinian protester.
At the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who was considered one of the founding fathers of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, President Mahmoud Abbas received a front-row seat and was filmed shaking the hands of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders, and cite strongly criticized by Palestinians and Arabs across the region.