Elections, Palestinian and Israeli

Mustafa Barghuti (Middle East Online photo)

Gunmen storm Fatah officer's home
BBC 7/18/2006
Gunmen have stormed the home of a senior Palestinian security officer in Gaza, officials say. Nabil Tammous, a member of a security force loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, was not there at the time. The attackers forced their way into the house, blew it up and also seized three bodyguards, security sources said. The ruling party Hamas, which has clashed frequently with Mr Abbas's Fatah party, denied any involvement in the attack. One report said a fourth guard was killed in the incident. The two factions, Hamas and Fatah, were locked in an intense power struggle for months after Hamas gained control of the Palestinian parliament in elections in January.

Legislative Council members in the Hamas party change offices in the Gaza Strip in light of Israeli assassination attempts
Palestine News Network 7/14/2006
Eyewitnesses said Israeli warplanes fired several rockets at dawn today, destroying buildings in near Jabaliya Refugee Camp north of Gaza City. The targets were elected government officials who ran and won on the Hamas “Change and Reform” ticket in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections. Security sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes launched a series of successive air attacks on various locations in both the south and the north of Gaza City early Friday. Palestinian Legislative Council members in the Hamas party changed their offices in the Gaza Strip in light of the increased Israeli assassination attempts. The sources added that Israeli warplanes fired a rocket, destroying a small bridge that connected Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the mid-Gaza Strip to Gaza City in the north.

Israeli government continues arrest campaign against Palestinian government, this time attempting to take the PLC Chairperson and Secretary
Palestine News Network 7/5/2006
Israeli forces attacked Ramallah and its sister-city Al Bireh early Tuesday morning in the continued arrest campaign against government officials. Not only are Palestinian government officials in the Gaza Strip receiving assassination threats and dodging missile fire into their offices, such as that of the Prime Minister and the Ministers Building, West Bank officials are spending their nights in Israeli prisons. In a single day last week Israeli forces arrested 38 elected government officials and stripped three of their Jerusalem citizenship, all for winning the elections in which the Hamas party was victorious. Some 40 Israeli military vehicles stormed Al Bireh from the north to the south this morning, while Israeli soldiers broke into the Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker’s house in Ramallah. He was not at home.

Diplomacy..

EXPECTANT: Palestinians wait outside a polling station in the West Bank town of Jericho during Thursday's municipal elections. Hamas battled Fatah for voter support. MUHAMMED MUHEISEN/AP

Palestinian government rejects suggestion to form a new emergency government with no Fatah or Hamas participitation
Ma'an News 7/11/2006
Jerusalem --The Palestinian government has rejected the peace initiative presented by former US peace envoy Dennis Ross which suggested that a way out of the current crisis in Gaza is for the Palestinians to announce an emergency government that excludes the Hamas and Fatah parties. Palestinian government spokesman Dr. Ghazi Hamad described the initiative as "unrealistic". He said, "It seems that the Palestinian accounts and equations are not being considered by Ross. Excluding Hamas and Fatah, the largest groups in the Palestinian arena, would not be useful, especially as Hamas won the elections with a vast majority, and keeping it out of the political scene or system goes against the [democratic] system".

IDF official: No humanitarian crisis in Gaza
YNet News 7/11/2006
Palestinians often present exaggerated picture to advance their own interests, head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration, Colonel Nir Peres, tells Ynet. There is no danger of running out of flour, wheat, and other basic products, he says; fuel, dairy products and other basic necessities just delivered -- There is neither hunger nor a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration, Colonel Nir Peres, told Ynet on Tuesday. “There is nothing of the sort. Of course, the situation can’t really be defined as good, but a lot is being done so that nothing is lacking there. ” In the past few months, since Hamas’ victory in Palestinian Authority elections and since the new government was established under Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh... -- See also: Israeli writer says, Flour will defeat Israeli armi in Gaza

Abbas' office receives USD 50 million from Arab League
YNet News 7/11/2006
Sum is largest amount of international aid to reach Palestinians since Hamas won legislative elections -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office on Tuesday received USD 50 million from the Arab League, officials said, the largest amount of international aid to reach the Palestinians since Hamas group won legislative elections. The officials said the money had bypassed Hamas and was sent directly to Abbas. The officials declined to say how the money would be spent. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the media. The Arab League had been holding the USD 50 million on behalf of Hamas in an account in Egypt. But international banks balked at transferring the money, fearing US anti-terrorism sanctions.

U.S. Seen Backing Israeli Moves To Topple Hamas
Forward 7/7/2006
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration appears to have dropped any objections to Israeli efforts to topple the Palestinian Authority's democratically elected Hamas government. Israel's security Cabinet on Wednesday authorized the Israeli military to broaden its actions in Gaza and further target Hamas, the terrorist organization that won January's Palestinian elections and has claimed responsibility for the abduction of Israeli army Corporal Gilad Shalit. Since Israel started moving forces into Gaza in response to Shalit's abduction last week, the Bush administration has urged Jerusalem to spare civilians and to provide for their humanitarian needs. Administration officials have also insisted that no harm come to P. A. President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, who they view as a dependable alternative to Hamas.

Turkish foreign minister won't rule out talks with Meshaal if progress can be made on crisis in Gaza
The Daily Star 7/8/2006
ANKARA: Turkey would consider fresh talks with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal if such efforts could help defuse turmoil in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in an interview published Friday. Ankara angered its ally Israel when it hosted a delegation led by Meshaal in February, following Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections, in what Turkish officials defended as an effort to press the militant group to renounce violence. Asked by the Milliyet newspaper whether Ankara would consider fresh talks with Meshaal to prevent further escalation between Israel and the Palestinians over the capture of an Israeli soldier, Gul said: "Anything is possible. Why not? "

Arab League, Saudi Arabia transfer $100m to Palestinians
Ha'aretz 7/4/2006
The Arab League and Saudi Arabia have transferred some$100 million to the Palestinians, the first funding since international aid was cut off after the Hamas militant group won legislative elections, a top Palestinian official and the Arab League said Tuesday. Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said the Arab aid money bypassed the Hamas government and was transferred directly to Abbas on Monday. Abbas will control how the funds are spent, he said. The EU, the U.S. and other donors froze hundreds of millions of dollars in direct aid to the Palestinian government after Hamas won elections in January, demanding that the group recognize Israel and cease all support of terrorism.

Human Rights..

On January 9, 2005 Palestinians living in the occupied territories will elect a president of the Palestinian Authority and new members of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the second general elections in nearly eight years. (Helga Tawil photo)

The Humanitarian Monitor occupied Palestinian territory No. 2 Jun 2006
ReliefWeb/OCHA 7/19/2006
June 30 -- The humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has deteriorated rapidly in 2006, a result of the fiscal crisis facing the Palestinian Authority following the election of the Hamas movement in the PLC elections and on top of Israeli security and access restrictions imposed at the end of September 2000. It has led UN agencies and NGOs participating in the 2006 emergency Appeal to produce a monthly report to monitor changes according to key humanitarian indicators in the following sectors: health, child protection and psychosocial support, education, food security, agriculture, water and sanitation and job creation and cash assistance. This report uses a combination of measurable humanitarian indicators and verified field observations.

Elected official’s wife says Israel arresting Palestinian government officials and revoking their citizenship is irrational, while their son pledges nonviolent resistance by remaining in the city
Palestine News Network 7/13/2006
Young or old, man or woman, students or workers or ministers, no Palestinian is immune to Israeli arrest and experiencing the life of a political prisoner. Palestinian Authority Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Khalid Abu Arafa, was chosen for this post after the Palestinian Legislative Council Elections earlier this year. However, his life remained as modest as ever, and hisrelationships with neighbors and friends the same, as his wife tells it. She told PNN of her shock to see her husband enter the court room as a prisoner, a scene she describes as unfit for an elected government official. Speaking with PNN, she said, “I felt strange and a sense of anger and sorrow, first because he is my husband and second because he is a government Minister. It illustrates the unjust world the Palestinians live in under the occupation’s prison system... "

Detained Hamas lawmakers reject authority of IDF court
Ha'aretz 7/6/2006
The attorney representing five Hamas lawmakers arrested by Israel said Wednesday that his clients refuse to recognize the authority of the Israel Defense Forces court at the Ofer military base to rule on their case. The five, who were detained last week as part of a mass arrest of Hamas officials, had their remand extended by five days Wednesday. Four of the five who appeared in court Wednesday are parliament members; the fifth is the Palestinian Minister for Waqf Affairs, Naif Rajoub. Their attorney, Jawad Bulus, said his clients viewed their remand as an abduction. "The process is a slap in the face to the many factors that gave legitimacy to fair, public and democratic elections held in the Palestinian Authority, in which they were elected by the Palestinian people," Bulus said.

At the Invitation of PCHR, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) Completes a Fact-finding Mission to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 7/2/2006
On Sunday, 2 July 2007, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) completed a week-long fact-finding mission to the OPT that began on Monday, 26 June 2006. The visit’s aim was to gather information and prepare a report on violations of Palestinians’ economic and social rights, as a result of the cutting of aid to the Palestinian people following the Hamas victory in the last parliamentary elections and the formation of the new Palestinian government.... The mission was planned to cover both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) closure of the Gaza Strip, and the launching of a military operation in the area, prevented the mission from visiting Gaza.

People..

Yossi Beillin and Yasser Abed Rabbo, leaders of the so-called Geneva Accord

International..

Maliki allies triumph in Iraq provincial polls
Middle East Online 2/19/2009
BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s allies triumphed in the January 31 provincial polls, final results showed on Thursday, boosting his position in war-battered Iraq after fiercely contested elections. Candidates backed by Maliki dominated in Baghdad and also won a majority in all nine of Iraq’s Shiite provinces, in a huge vote of confidence for the premier whose standing has grown steadily at home and abroad in the past year. Just over half of Iraqis voted in the largely trouble-free elections, which were seen as a vital test of the country’s progress since the US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein from power almost six years ago. Maliki, a Shiite, did not stand in the provincial council polls but threw his backing behind State of Law Coalition candidates. The polls held in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces were seen as a referendum on Maliki’s performance.

Mohammad Khatami criticizes rival Ahmadinejad over Iran’s isolation
The Associated Press, Ha’aretz 2/12/2009
The top reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential race has criticized hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the country’s international isolation. The comments were the first by Mohammad Khatami about the president since Khatami entered the race last weekend. They signaled that his campaign will likely focus on Iranians’ worries that Ahmadinejad’s fiery anti-Western rhetoric has worsened the country’s status in the world at a time when Iran is suffering economic woes. Khatami, a liberal cleric who was president from 1997-2005, told a group of his supporters that the current situation in the country is not desirable, according to Khatami’s Web site. Khatami warned at the meeting late Wednesday that if the situation continues, the country’s social capital and international reputation will be damaged even more.

Iraq’s Parliament fails to elect new House speaker
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 2/9/2009
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Parliament remained deadlocked on the election of a new speaker on Sunday, just two days after US Vice President Joe Biden said Iraq needed to push ahead with political reform. The failure is a blow to the fledgling democracy, which without a speaker cannot debate or approve a new budget and oil laws deemed crucial to the reconstruction of the country. There are five candidates vying for the post, but rival Sunni politicians cannot agree on who should get the job. "A group of parties left the hall today and there were not enough MPs to choose a new speaker," said Jamal al-Butikh, chief of the National Iraqi List, the parliamentary group headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Outspoken Mahmoud Mashhadani quit as speaker on December 23, triggering political wrangling over a replacement. He resigned after Kurdish and Shiite MPs clamored for him to go because. . .

Iraq’s Sadrists complain of vote fraud
Middle East Online 2/7/2009
BAGHDAD - Iraqi politicians backed by the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday said they would lodge an official complaint about votes being excluded during last weekend’s provincial elections. Allies of Sadr said that preliminary results declared by election authorities were markedly different from estimates compiled by the party’s observers during the hotly-contested vote. "There is a big difference in some provinces between the figures we have, through our agents and observers, and those that were declared," said Amir al-Kinani, secretary general of the Free Independent Movement, backed by Sadr. "We will submit the appeal in the results of a number of Baghdad areas and other provinces, including Najaf, Maysan, and Diwaniyah," he said. The Free Independent Movement finished second in the capital Baghdad with nine percent of the vote, which left them 29 percent behind candidates backed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Israel, Iran, Pakistan world’s least popular nations - poll
Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, Daily Star 2/7/2009
WASHINGTON: Israel, Iran, North Korea and Pakistan are widely seen as exerting the most negative influence on world affairs, according to the latest in a series of annual global surveys by the BBC’s World Service on popular perceptions of the world’s most powerful or newsworthy nations. The survey, which questioned some 13,500 respondents in 21 countries around the world, found that perceptions of Russian and Chinese influence also became considerably more negative during 2008. At the same time, views of the United States, which rivaled those of Israel and Iran just two years ago, continued improving modestly last year but remained predominantly negative despite the victory of Barack Obama in the November 2008 presidential elections. "Though BBC polls have shown that most people around the world are hopeful that Barack Obama will improve US relations with the. . . "

Maliki: Iraq elections ’changed political map’
Middle East Online 2/6/2009
BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Friday that Iraq’s provincial elections had "changed the political map" and were a success for the country’s citizens. "It is a success for all Iraqis," he told reporters in Baghdad, in his first comments since results showed on Thursday that candidates backed by him had triumphed in fiercely contested polls held six days ago. "Sure, there are changes to the political map, because the citizens voted to see the changes," said the Shiite premier, who has adopted a notably secular political outlook. "Iraqis voted based on the programme presented by candidates and not on a sectarian affiliation," he said. "I am more happy for that than the fact that our list topped the vote. " Maliki did not stand in last Saturday’s elections but campaigned vigorously for candidates in the State of Law Coalition, who swept the poll in Baghdad and in eight of Iraq’s nine Shiite provinces.

Initial results indicate triumph for Maliki in provincial polls
Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 2/6/2009
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki’s allies triumphed in weekend elections, preliminary results showed Thursday, delivering him a popular mandate after fiercely contested polls in the war-torn nation. Candidates backed by Maliki took the biggest vote in Baghdad and eight of the country’s nine Shiite provinces, in a huge vote of confidence for the premier, whose standing has steadily grown at home and abroad in the past year. Just over half of Iraqis voted on Saturday in the election, which was seen as a vital test of the country’s progress since a US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein from power almost six years ago. Maliki, a Shiite, did not stand in the election but threw his backing behind candidates from the country’s State of Law Coalition. The preliminary tally released by the Iraqi High Electoral Commission showed that the coalition had a resounding success in Baghdad, achieving 38 percent of the vote.

Arabs heed Obama’s call for change
Alaa Bayoumi, Al Jazeera 2/4/2008
If it were not for Barack Obama, many Arabs would not even bother to follow the results of the US presidential race on Super Tuesday. Such gloomy views could be attributed to Arabs’ negative attitudes toward governments and politics in general. Arabs have been living under authoritarian governments, many of them US allies, for decades. And the US’s traditional support for Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, coupled with the war on Iraq, has meant Arab mistrust of the US has dipped to new lows in recent years. Against this backdrop, it is easy to see why many Arabs will not be following the latest news from the US presidential primary elections. ’Offensive’ rhetoric Many do not see any serious differences between the Republican and Democratic candidates who are taking part in the race.

Ahmadinejad battles on the home front
Khody Akhavi, Asia Times 2/5/2008
WASHINGTON - Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has garnered headlines around the world for his defiance of Washington, as well as his rhetorical grandstanding on Palestinian issues, Israel and his government’s alleged support of Shi’ite militias in Iraq. Still, it appears that Iran’s parliamentary elections in March will be determined less by debates over the country’s foreign policy than by rising criticism of incompetence and economic mismanagement of conservatives and hardliners in the legislature and in Ahmadinejad’s office." Ahmadinejad is in trouble, not only because his economic policies have not worked; he has managed to antagonize almost the entire Iranian elite because of his exclusivist management style," said Farideh Farhi, an independent researcher on Iran and political scientist at the University of Hawaii.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad Caught Between Reformists and Hardliners
Khody Akhavi, Inter Press Service 1/28/2008
WASHINGTON, Jan 28(IPS) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has garnered headlines around the world for his defiance of Washington, as well as his rhetorical grandstanding on Palestinian issues, the existence of Israel, and his government’s alleged support of Shiite militias in Iraq. Still, it appears that Iran’s upcoming parliamentary elections in March will be determined less by debates over the country’s foreign policy than by rising criticism of incompetence and economic mismanagement of conservatives and hardliners in the legislature and in the office of the president. "Ahmadinejad is in trouble, not only because his economic policies have not worked; he has managed to antagonise almost the entire Iranian elite because of his exclusivist management style," said Farideh Farhi, an independent researcher on Iran and political scientist at the University of Hawaii.

Mideast press urges action on Gaza
BBC Online 6/14/2007
The Palestinian press makes an urgent appeal for action to prevent the violence in Gaza from turning into a full-blown civil war, urging President Abbas to call a state of emergency and ask for intervention from the region’s Arab states. Papers in the wider Middle East blame the violence on Palestinian leaders and demand fresh elections to resolve the power struggle between the Hamas and Fatah factions. In Israel, commentators ponder how the country should react to the Palestinian infighting, with one advocating a total withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the occupied territories. - Palestinian AL-QUDS -- It seems we have reached the point of no return in this infighting and are witnessing the beginnings of civil war.

Lebanon factions resume talks
AlJazeera 3/22/2006
Leaders of Lebanon's rival factions have resumed talks on the fate of the country's pro-Syrian president and a UN call for the disarmament of the Hizb Allah group. The talks come amid signs that an agreement remains elusive on the two issues that threaten to destabilise the country. The discussions, which began on 2 March, have focused on a 2004 UN Security Council resolution that calls for disarming Hizb Allah and Palestinian fighters. The resolution also urged new presidential elections. It was passed in September 2004, days before Lebanese legislators extended Emile Lahoud's term for three years.

Chirac vows 'voice of reason' on Iran
Daily Star 3/6/2006
French president labels cartoon row a 'clash of ignorance' -- RIYADH: French President Jacques Chirac said Sunday the West would still reach out to Iran for a deal on its disputed nuclear file, in the first address to the Saudi consultative council by a foreign leader. The president's wide-ranging speech in Riyadh also covered Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian elections, reform in the conservative monarchy and the "clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam. "In Iran, the voice of reason that France, the United Kingdom and Germany wanted to be heard on the nuclear file has not been heard, for the time being," Chirac told the appointed advisory council, an all-male body of 150 members.

Palestinian Americans Push Religious Pluralism in P.A.
Forward 2/17/2006
WASHINGTON — Palestinian American activists are vowing to lobby Hamas against turning the West Bank and Gaza into an Islamic theocracy. Anxious about the victory of the Islamic fundamentalist group in last month's Palestinian parliamentary elections, Palestinian American leaders say that they will push for laws favoring American-style church-state separation, pluralism, equality and inclusiveness. "We are at the time when defining decisions may very well be made in Palestine," said Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine. The task force is a prominent pro-Palestinian advocacy group in Washington.

Disagreement With Gaza Disengagement Sours Orthodox on Bush
Forward 6/24/2005
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week, cracks were emerging in the coalition of Jewish conservatives that rallied this past November around the claim that President Bush was "the best friend Israel ever had in Washington." Many influential Republican loyalists and non-Orthodox hawks appear to be remaining firm in their support of Bush. But a growing number of Orthodox activists who were avidly courted by Bush in the 2004 election are feeling distinctly dismayed as the administration embraces Israel's Gaza disengagement plan and presses for more aid to the Palestinians.

Elections give hope to Palestinian refugees
Daily Star 6/7/2005
BEIRUT: Palestinian refugees living in squalid and overcrowded camps dare to hope the legislative elections will directly improve their lives. "I have been monitoring the elections to see if they will bring change," said Mohammad al-Daoud, 21, outside Beirut's Chatilla camp where portraits of candidates jostle those of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Some 400,000 Palestinian refugees live in 12 refugee compounds in South Lebanon, where conditions are often harsh and permanent citizenship is denied to all. Fouad Abed, 36, complained that the candidate he was rooting for lost in the first part of the four-stage elections that took place May 29.

El Salvador group opens park in honor of late Palestinian leader Arafat
Ha'aretz 5/25/2005
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - A new plaza on Jerusalem Avenue was inaugurated Wednesday in honor of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, despite criticism from the Israeli Embassy in El Salvador. "We are making a monument to the maximum leader of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine," said one of the promoters, businessman John Nasser, as the square with a large bust of Arafat was inaugurated. Migrants from Palestine flowed to El Salvador for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and several families became prominent in business and politics. Both President Tony Saca and his rival in last year's election, Schafik Handal, are sons of families that migrated from the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

AIPAC Losing this Fight
Electronic Intifada 3/7/2005
Press Release, Council for the National Interest -- AIPAC has been taken aback by new Mideast resolutions. Last month the House and the Senate each passed their own resolutions expressing support for the Palestinian Authority in the wake of their successful presidential elections. The Washington Jewish Week reported that many on the Hill feel the Israel lobby was caught asleep on this one. The problem for the lobby was simple: popular support and optimism after the Palestinian presidential elections took the wind out of any possible grounds for raising opposition to the resolutions.

Arabs warmly welcome Abbas election
Middle East Online 1/10/2005
Analysts, officials hail election of Mahmud Abbas as Palestinian leader, pay tribute to strong voter turnout. -- Arabs gave a warm welcome Monday to the election of Mahmud Abbas as Palestinian leader, admiring a successful exercise in Arab democracy and hoping that a strong voter turnout will bolster his position. Analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah of Cairo's Al Ahram Center of Strategic Studies said the high turnout and the strong result for Mahmud Abbas "gives him the necessary legitimacy for his plans to resolve the conflict" with Israel.

Press Review: 'The hour of truth has arrived'
The Guardian 1/11/2005
Mahmoud Abbas wins but how will events now develop? -- Times, Editorial, January 10 - "After [Sunday's] election ... there was a palpable feeling that something had changed ... Mahmoud Abbas, the pragmatist favoured by Israel and the outside world ... won a triumphant victory ... to succeed the late ... Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority ...

Economy..