US president Barack Obama's opposition to the Palestinians' bid for membership of the UN is turning their deep disappointment with his Middle East policy to outright anger.
The burning of an American flag during a protest this week was an isolated incident, but it captured the mood.
"Frustration breeds anger," said one Palestinian official, giving a private assessment of public feeling.
Recently, signs advertising US financial support for Palestinian West Bank development projects have been vandalised, one sprayed with the word "Veto" - the fate the Obama administration has in store for the Palestinians' UN bid.
Regardless of US warnings, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to submit the application for recognition of Palestinian statehood and full UN membership today at the UN General Assembly in New York.
A few hundred protesters took to Ramallah's streets yesterday after Obama's speech at the UN the night before.
"It was disappointing. It was full of double standards," said Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician.
Protesters contrasted Obama's support for freedom in the Arab world with what they saw as meek words on their struggle for self-determination on land occupied by Israel in 1967, when its Arab neighbours tried to invade it.
"When we need them, they conspire against the state of Palestine," said Nazih Qabaha, 30, an employee of the Palestinian Authority which is relying on US funding for about 16% of its budget this year.
In his speech, Obama reiterated US support for the negotiated establishment of a Palestinian state but opposed a unilateral bid for UN membership - a position Palestinians believed reflected Washington's bias towards Israel.
Frustration with US policy is one of the main reasons for Abbas's UN initiative.
Palestinian officials have presented it as an attempt to break the US monopoly in Middle East peace diplomacy by involving other powers.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
