Palestinians throw shoes to protest cost of living

2012-09-10 1

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

STORY: Hundreds of Palestinians threw shoes at posters of their Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday, protesting a rising cost of living in the West Bank.

Holding signs reading: "Its clear our government is betraying us", protesters in the city of Hebron also trampled on a poster of Fayyad and later burned it.

Earlier on Monday, protesters pelted a government building with stones and burned tires in the streets, in a sign that a nascent movement against the Western-backed government could spiral out of control.

The violence is likely to set alarm bells ringing, not least in Israel, where security chiefs have warned of the risk of unrest at a time of growing economic hardship coupled with total paralysis in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, has taken on increasing debt to overcome its shortfalls, but economists say that the situation is unsustainable.

The West Bank protest movement kicked off last week, when the price of fuel was increased by five percent after key suppliers in Israel hiked their charges.

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