Palestinians in Ramallah brace for visit by 'that criminal' Bush

It was only at 1:30 P.M. that Amjad arrived with his truck and his crane to hang American and Palestinian flags on the streets around the Muqata government headquarters. No one from the Palestinian Authority wants to leave them hanging too long, for fear they might be burned.

However, the hot topic in Ramallah was the closing of the roads. On Wednesday afternoon, the Palestinian security forces already were stopping cars from approaching the Muqata, where President George W. Bush is scheduled to land this morning. Photographers were asked not to photograph the complex even from a distance, and media teams were asked to leave nearby streets.

Ala, who lives nearby, said Preventive Security personnel had been moving from house to house for the past few days and taking down residents' names.
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"We were asked not to go out onto the balconies or the roofs. We are not allowed to go into the street, either," he said. "That criminal, George Bush, has put us under curfew. The Israelis are not enough - now him, too. He is destroying the world and he will yet be tried for his crimes," he added.

His female companion, from East Jerusalem, nodded in agreement. Bush's visit has not brought good news, in her opinion.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/943316.html

In the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem, residents say that Israeli interests will trump theirs despite Bush's vow of a peace deal this year.

<snip>

"While President Bush stood in Ramallah Thursday speaking of plans for a way out of the conflict that defines daily life for millions of Palestinians, many of the people he hoped to convince that a peace deal with Israel is on the horizon simply dismissed his promises as kalam fadi – empty words.

Not far from the Palestinian Authority offices where Mr. Bush met President Mahmoud Abbas, men sat huddled at a popular local cafe watching the two stand side by side for the first time on Palestinian soil.

"For us, the Bush visit failed even before he arrived. This visit worked in favor of Israeli interests, not for the Palestinians," says Khader Dibs, a middle-age father and manager of the local sanitation office who was among many who sat watching the speeches on new flat-screen television hanging on the wall, which turns the Abu Kheir Cafe in the Shuafat Refugee Camp into something of a town square. Men came to discuss the politics of the day and women stopped in to eavesdrop while they picked up a tub of the freshest hummus in town.

Palestinians here say they wish Bush would come to their neck of the woods, too, to see what it means to have their freedom of movement constantly curtailed.

"Our whole life is waiting at checkpoints. It's a humiliation," Mr. Dibs says. "I didn't hear Bush talk about Israel's recent assassinations, incursions, and killings, either. The money spent on his visit would have been better spent on development."

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<snip>

"U.S. President George W. Bush was not the bearer of big news for the Palestinian people when he spoke in Ramallah after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.

Apart from a broad presentation of his vision for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, Bush spoke inarticulately about his concerns over Israeli settlements, said his convoy managed to get through Israel Defense Forces checkpoints without delay and suggested the Palestinians abandon United Nations resolutions, because they were of no help to them in the past.

As Bush spoke, the Muqata, Abbas' Ramallah headquarters, was under closure and Palestinian security forces were inspecting cars every ten minutes in an extremely unusual move.

American flags were not scattered through the city, but were only visible in the press conference hall and the Muqata plaza.

Bush first met personally with Abbas and then with a wider forum of the Palestinian leadership. When it was time to meet with reporters, a feeling of discomfort and restlessness was visible on the face of the American president when he couldn't hear the simultaneous translation of Abbas' statements. In a familiar American stunt, he jokingly told Abbas he completely agrees with him despite the fact that he does not understand Arabic.

During the speeches, it was clear from the faces of the Palestinian leadership that were not expecting anything new. The Palestinian claim is clear: Bush doesn't intend to exert pressure on Israel in order to advance the peace process."

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that the PA actually put their own people under curfew.

Serious traitors.