Foreign Dispatch: ‘No Hope’ [VIDEO]
By FOX News Radio’s Emily Wither in Ramallah ahead of President Obama’s visit
Driving into Ramallah, posters of President Obama line the streets. But nearly all of them are defaced with the President’s face scratched out. In the chaotic streets of the city center, a small protest brings traffic to a standstill, while curious bystanders line the pavement cafes and building balconies taking pictures to post on the internet.
They chant a message to the President, “Go home!” While holding placards that read ‘No Hope’ and ‘We Don’t Need Your Listening Tour’. President Obama has made it clear that he’s not arriving with a grand peace plan for the Palestinians and Israelis, but is instead here to listen. His trip comes at a time of heightened tension and increased violence, with talk that a third intifada could come soon. But for many Palestinians, Obama’s slogan ‘Yes We Can’ has come to mean, ‘No You Can’t’.
Frustrated and fed up, many are skeptical of the President’s commitment to promote peace. “I don’t think that Obama will bring anything new,” one protester shouts at me over the roar of the crowd. “He will only continue to support Israeli policy to continue building settlements in the West Bank,” he continued. Another remarks that Obama isn’t coming here for Palestinians, “he only wants to show support for Israel and mend relations with Benjamin Netanyahu.” Yasmin, one of the protest organizers, asks me on my way out, “how dare Obama come here?”
Listen to some of Emily Wither’s reporting from Ramallah:
Watch a video of Emily Wither reporting from Ramallah:
Follow Emily Wither on Twitter: @ewither
