On Wednesday in the West Bank city of Hebron, 15 miles south of Jerusalem, about 1,000 people braved driving rain, hail and howling winds to greet Abbas in the basement of a local hotel.
Outside, loyalists with green-and-white baseball caps and black umbrellas emblazoned with Abbas's image waved Palestinian flags and banners of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Dozens of Palestinian police and soldiers from the national security force and Force 17 presidential guard mixed easily with al-Aqsa militants.
Mustafa Barghouti, running second in polls, campaigns near Ramallah.
(Loay Abu Haykel -- Reuters)
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Inside, Abbas looked slightly scared and bewildered as he was jostled by surging crowds whipped into a clapping, cheering, chanting frenzy. "We are the brigades! We are its people!" the crowd yelled. "To Jerusalem we march -- martyrs by the millions!" they hollered, repeating a phrase often used by Arafat that Israeli officials claim was an open incitement to suicide bombers.
Abbas, who has been a staunch critic of Palestinian violence, struck many of the chords that resonated at past campaign stops, where his increasingly strident tone and outreach to militants alarmed some Israeli officials.
In a brief speech, he vowed to end corruption and emphasized the importance of women in society. He pledged to fight for an independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital; the return of Palestinian refugees to family homes inside Israel; and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. And he promised to "provide a decent life for all the fighters."
"With our souls, with our blood, we will defend you, Abu Mazen!" the crowd roared in response.
But Abbas angered militant organizations this week when he demanded that they stop firing rocket and mortar shells from the Gaza Strip into Jewish settlements and across the Israeli border. The next day, guerrillas, including members of his own party, unleashed a volley of attacks against Israel in protest.
Many other Palestinians, however, say they welcome the Fatah candidate's stand.
"It's a start for the president to speak out," said Hayek, the Gaza student, who missed the fall semester at Brigham Young University in Utah because of Israel's closure of the Gaza Strip. "It's time for [the militants] to take a hike. A lot of people are talking in locked rooms. Nobody dares speak up because they're accused of treason. If a president speaks out, now people who speak their opinion won't be accused of being a traitor."
Anderson reported from Hebron.
