Supporters of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hold up placards with his portrait as they rally in the West Bank town of Ramallah yesterday.

ramallah: Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank town of Ramallah yesterday to express support for president Mahmoud Abbas days after he said he would not seek re-election in January.

Several rallies have been held for the beleaguered president since he announced last Thursday that he would not seek another term in office because of the US government’s failure to compel Israel to freeze Jewish settlements.

The crowds hoisted pictures of Abbas reading “We renew our homage to you, President” and pictures of Yasser Arafat, the iconic Palestinian leader who passed away five years ago on Wednesday. “This rally is a message to the world and especially the United States and Israel and the Arabs that we are with president Abbas and his holding onto the rights of the Palestinian people,” Tawfiq Al Tairawi, a senior official from Abbas’s Fatah party, told the crowd, referring to Abbas’ refusal to give into US demands that he resume peace talks without a settlement freeze.

At Ramallah gathering, organised by three unions of public sector workers, a string of speakers called on Abbas to remain in office and not resume peace talks without a complete halt to settlements.

“We are announcing our support for his position and encouraging president Abbas,” said Jamil Shehada, head of the teachers’ union, which helped stage the event. “We say there is no president for the Palestinian people except for him.”

The demonstration comes a day after Abbas was hailed by Palestinian crowds during a rare visit to the West Bank towns of Hebron and Bethlehem, when he slammed Israel’s refusal to halt settlement growth.

“Israel says it rejects preconditions for restarting negotiations, but in fact the Israelis reject peace,” Abbas said in Bethlehem. “They don’t want a halt to settlements and they don’t want a vision of two states because they do not want peace.”