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A Semblance of Normalcy in the West Bank

[AP/Washington Post] Mohammed Daraghmeh - Life in the West Bank - in sharp contrast to Hamas-ruled Gaza - has taken on a semblance of normalcy with massive foreign aid and training for security forces loyal to U.S.-backed Mahmoud Abbas. Middle-class matrons shop for imported furniture in a marble-and-glass emporium in Ramallah. A festival at the city's Palace of Culture featuring dance and music groups from Turkey, Germany and France is drawing sellout crowds. The Danish hip hop group Outlandish recently performed for 2,000 fans, including teenage girls in jeans and tank tops, with black-clad Palestinian riot police watching from the sidelines. After the second Palestinian uprising against Israel broke out in 2000, vigilante gunmen ruled and security forces were largely powerless. Now police are visible in the streets, the vigilantes have handed over their weapons, and Hamas militants have gone underground. In Nablus, cinemas were shut down by uprising activists in the late 1980s. Now the $2 million Cinema City is showing four films a day, mainly Egyptian dramas and comedies but also Hollywood fare.
2009-07-16 06:00:00
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