Elections, Palestinian and Israeli

Mustafa Barghuti (Middle East Online photo)

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 source: US thwarting PA unity
YNet News 9/29/2006
Senior Palestinian source tells Ynet difficulties revealed during talks between Abbas and Hamas regarding unity government surfaced shortly after PA president met with US consul general in J’lem; ‘Americans asked Abbas to dissolve parliament, prepare for elections,’ he adds -- A senior Palestinian source told Ynet Thursday that “pressure applied by the United States on (President) Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is preventing the establishment of a unity government in the Palestinian Authority. ” According to the source, difficulties in the talks between Abbas and Hamas regarding a unity government began to surface shortly after Abbas’ meeting with US consul general in Jerusalem, Jack Wallace, a few days before the president left for the US to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly.

At UN meeting, Quartet hopes new Palestinian government leads to renewed engagement
ReliefWeb/United Nations News 9/20/2006
A high-level meeting at the United Nations of key international partners in the Middle East peace process today welcomed efforts to form a Palestinian national unity government in the hope that it would commit to non-violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist, thus allowing for renewed engagement. The so-called diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East, comprising the United Nations, United States, European Union (EU) and Russia, called for such a government to reflect Quartet principles. Ever since Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction, won parliamentary elections in January, the Quartet has called on it to commit to non-violence, recognize Israel and accept agreements already signed between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel refuses to meet Gerry Adams on his visit to Palestinian territories
Ma'an News 9/6/2006
Ramallah -- Israel has refused to receive Gerry Adams, the head of the political wing of the IRA, who is visiting the Palestinian territories at the invitation of President Mahmoud Abbas. Adams also intends to meet with PLC members of the Hamas movement. Adams met with Palestinian officials and Palestinian Israelis in Ramallah and Jerusalem on Wednesday, while Israeli officials boycotted his visit, refusing to meet with him. During his meeting with Dr Ahmed Tibi, an Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, Gerry Adams called for the opening of a dialogue between the Hamas movement and Israel, calling for the international community to deal with results of the Palestinian elections which brought Hamas to government. Speaking to the press, Adams said that... dialogue can solve all problems..." Dialogue with others doesn’t mean recognition of them.."

PM: Israel must renew Palestinian talks
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/4/2006
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert signaled a need Monday to pursue talks with the Palestinians, an official said, apparently edging away from a unilateral West Bank pullback plan that swept him to power in March. There have been no official contacts between Israel and the Palestinians since the militant Hamas group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January. But with Israel's recent war against Lebanese guerrillas putting a chill on Olmert's program — to uproot Jewish settlements and unilaterally draw Israel's border with the West Bank — the Israeli leader again broached the idea of talks. "We have no more urgent problem than that of the Palestinians," Olmert told parliament's influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, a meeting participant said.

Gerry Adams to meet Hamas leaders
The Guardian 9/4/2006
The White House reportedly tried to dissuade Adams from meeting Hamas. -- Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin, is due to fly to the Middle East tomorrow to meet Hamas representatives and lend his support to the search for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. The MP for West Belfast was invited by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas, which emerged as the strongest party in the Palestinian elections in January, is banned in both the EU and the US, where it is deemed to be a terrorist organisation. There have long been contacts between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the republican movement in Northern Ireland. The Israeli government has made it clear it will not receive Mr Adams because of his intention to talk with Hamas.

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. 4 Aug 2006
ReliefWeb/OCHA 9/26/2006
31 Aug 2006 -- The humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip continued to deteriorate in 2006. The primary causes of this deterioration were Israeli access and security restrictions and the military incursions together with the Palestinian Authority (PA) fiscal crisis (freezing of the VAT and donors' cutting off of assistance) following the election of the Hamas movement in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections. The deteriorating situation 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. -- See Full report (PDF format - 1.5 MB) and Humanitarian Update Aug 2006

“British Trade Unions: “Tear down the Apartheid Wall”
Stop The Wall 9/17/2006
Britain's largest trade union body, the TUC, has passed a motion calling on Israel to tear down its 'apartheid wall'. The Trade Union Council, which represents 66 affiliated unions and nearly seven million workers, passed the motion at its annual conference in Brighton, UK, calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from all occupied territories, for the British government and EU to restore funding to the Palestinian Authority and for the Israeli government to restore withheld tax revenues due to the PA. International funding to the PA was cut in February of this year after Hamas gained an electoral majority in the first democratic elections in Palestine in ten years. The TUC motion upholds the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and condemns the recent Israeli attack on the Gaza City power station, the use of sonic booms over Gaza....

People..

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

Depression in the Palestinian territories increasing due to conflict and poverty
Ma'an News 9/28/2006
GAZA CITY, 28 September (IRIN) - A survey by a West Bank research company has revealed that the level of "severe depression" in the population of the Palestinian territory had increased by 21 percent over the past year to 77 percent. The survey, conducted by Near East Consulting company, questioned residents of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem on their general state of being. Much higher levels of depression were found in respondents living in extreme poverty, where the figure stands at 83 percent. With an international trade embargo on the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) in place since Hamas - considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Israel - won democratic elections in January, the Palestinian Authority has been unable to pay salaries to 165,000 civil servants.

Poll: Most Palestinians think Hamas should not recognize Israel
Ha'aretz 9/18/2006
Some 66 percent of Palestinians think Hamas should not recognize Israel, said a poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR), which questioned more than 1,200 adults in the West Bank and Gaza between Thursday and Saturday. Hamas' popularity has plummeted from 47 percent since it took office in March to 38 percent currently. Some 41 percent of those asked said they would vote for Fatah if elections were held today, putting the party slightly ahead of Hamas for the first time in months. A small majority of Palestinians 54 percent also said they were dissatisfied with the Hamas government's performance, mostly because of its failure to pay salaries and address poverty, said the poll, which had a margin of error of 3 percent.

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..

Gov't workers join Palestinian strike
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/7/2006
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Unpaid employees in the Palestinian prime minister's office on Wednesday joined a widespread strike that is challenging the survival of the Hamas-led government. While Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh struggled with the embarrassing assault on his authority, Israeli attacks in Gaza's south killed six people and wounded at least 21. Hamas accused the rival Fatah party of orchestrating the strike, which has emerged as a formidable challenge to a government already embattled by international sanctions and widespread anarchy. The Palestinian government has been in a financial crisis since Hamas took over in March after winning parliamentary elections.... A work stoppage launched last weekend by teachers and civil servants escalated into a full-scale general strike this week.