RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Thousands of Palestinians have gathered in the West Bank town of Ramallah to give a hero’s welcome to Mahmoud Abbas after his appeal for recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations.
The Palestinian president was expected to address the crowd later on Sunday.
Abbas is returning from New York, where he asked the U.N. Security Council on Friday to recognize an independent Palestinian state.
The Palestinian was widely seen as a dour bureaucrat but his popularity skyrocketed since the speech, in which he defied Israeli and U.S. calls to give up the U.N. bid and instead resume peace talks.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians watched the speech on large screens set up in town squares across the West Bank.
