About 400 Palestinians staged a demonstration in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp Friday, marking a visit to Sidon’s historic sites by US Ambassador Vincent Battle with a protest against his country’s perceived pro-Israel bias.
Accompanied by embassy officials and beefed up security, Battle toured the old city of Sidon and other historic sites, including the old citadel and Debbane Palace.
Just outside the city limits in Ain al-Hilweh, demonstrators bearing guns waved portraits of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and shouted criticism of US President George W. Bush.
With US and Israeli flags burning in the background, one armed Fatah member wearing a keffiyeh told The Daily Star: “Neither America nor Bush can impose change.”
“The time when Bush could impose something on us is gone,” said Abu Ahmed Bikai.
Nearby, other demonstrators stomped on flyers depicting Bush, which read: “No. 1 in the Likud Party.”
Khaled Aref, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s secretary-general in Sidon, addressed a letter to Arafat asserting the Palestinian people’s confidence in his leadership.
The letter said the US and Israeli campaign against Arafat indicated that the Palestinian president was the “last obstacle … (to) the project of Zionising the Arab and Islamic region.”
Aref pledged his support for Arafat until the liberation and the return of refugees to their homeland.
Meanwhile at the Debbane Palace, Battle listened to a detailed explanation from its owner Raphael Debbane on the history and architecture of the building, which Debbane intends to turn into an international museum.
The ambassador also visited the historic Jawhar residence, which overlooks Sidon’s citadel.

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