WEST BANK: Palestinians celebrate U.N. bid

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REPORTING FROM RAMALLAH, WEST BANK -- Across the West Bank on Friday, Palestinians celebrated their president’s bid for United Nations recognition as a sovereign state.

Thousands of people gathered in front of outdoor screens set up in the main cities to watch Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas address the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The crowds cheered and waved flags when Abbas said he had submitted an application for full U.N. membership despite strong objections from Israel and the United States.

‘We want to have our own state, like any other country,’ school teacher Reem Masri told Reuters news service in the main square of the city of Nablus, which was packed with people. ‘All countries must support us.”

Tension had been running high ahead of the speech. Israeli forces deployed thousands of security officers around the West Bank and in Jerusalem, and there were scattered clashes with Palestinian protesters.

Near the West Bank village of Qusra, soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man during a clash between residents and Israeli settlers, according to witnesses and news reports.

The Israeli military told the Associated Press that soldiers opened fire after villagers threw rocks at them and that it was working with Palestinian security officials to investigate.

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-- Maher Abukhater and Edmund Sanders