More than 1,000 people gathered outside the Palestinian government headquarters in Ramallah for the first officially sanctioned anti-US protest in the West Bank for years after Mr Obama's unexpected words to the UN.
Posing a fresh challenge to the US administration as it struggles to adapt to the shifting political landscape of the region in the wake of the Arab Spring, activists harnessed the Internet to call for mass pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the Middle East in the coming days.
The growing backlash came as many Arabs reacted with disbelief after Mr Obama addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday to deliver the most pro-Israeli speech to a non-Jewish audience of his presidential career.
Given that the United States has announced it will use its Security Council veto to prevent the Palestinians joining the UN as a full member state, many in the West Bank had expected Mr Obama's speech to be robust.
But few supposed he would speak as he did. » | Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem and Alex Spillius in New York | Thursday, September 22, 2011
