Palestinians took to the streets in droves to show their support for President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.
Abbas is set to meet with President Obama in Washington today to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Protestors wanted Abbas to know that they stood with him.
“We’re here today to stand up to pressures upon us and make sure president Abbas adheres to his convictions,” said former Palestinian education minister Nasser Eddin al Shaer.
Roughly 5,000 people gathered in the city of Nablus, while 1,500 marched in Ramallah, and over 1,000 in the city of Hebron.
Palestinian and Israeli leaders have been unable to secure a peace deal thus far as and an April 29th deadline looms.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently threw up another roadblock in negotiations by demanding that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Palestinians have repeatedly rejected this precondition.
