This one's about politics

Raise your hand if you’ve ever danced until 2:00 am in a Palestinian nightclub to such old favorites as Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants,” or a remix of “I Will Survive.” From what I can tell, my “date?” last night may actually have been a “Date.” Not entirely sure what that means here, though, particularly as I’m leaving in a matter of weeks. We’ll see if anything gets interesting.

Meanwhile, as you may have read on the news, a group of militants shot up Abbas’ compound on Wednesday night, and then hit a few restaurants in downtown Ramallah. Abbas’ compound is about half a mile away, so we could hear the shooting, but didn’t know what it was about until later. It’s odd – Ramallah’s a pretty quiet place, but all you hear on the news are the pieces like this.

The reaction here? Everyone I know was either nervously frightened, or angry at the people who had caused the shooting. It’s interesting, as the Palestinians are fairly united in their opposition to Israel’s policies (although divided on the means to such opposition), but the question of their relationship with the rest of the world is a bit murky, and the reaction to Abbas’ diplomacy (or capitulation, to some) is divided.

Uniformly, no one likes Bush, and this entire region is, if not angry, then astonished at the way that the Middle East, and the Palestinians in particular, are portrayed in the American media. The EU is more popular, and visible, here. The apartments where I’m staying have the Palestinian flag, the UN flag, and the EU flag. Despite the fact that there are some Americans here, our flag is conspicuously absent, and I find that its lack makes me feel safer. If I’m taken for a Brit while abroad, so much the better. The people I’ve met have nothing against Americans as people, but they do not like our policies, and will tell you so at any opportunity (over dinner, in the cab, etc.). They will, though, be careful to make the distinction between policy and people, which is comforting.