Palestinian Elections

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

EU urges Mideast cooperation for Palestinian vote
Daily Star 12/1/2004
Officials cautiously optimistic for renewed peace effort -- Two days of talks in The Hague between the European Union, Israel and its Arab neighbors ended Tuesday with a note of cautious optimism over the possibility of fresh Middle East peace efforts ahead of Palestinian elections in six weeks. Israelis and Palestinians met for brief talks and discussed Israel''s role in the Jan. 9 vote, which will decide who succeeds late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

PA''s Abbas rules out interim deal with Israel
Ha''aretz 11/29/2004
The Palestinians will not accept an interim settlement with Israel, Palestine Liberation Organization chief Mahmoud Abbas told the Arab League during a visit to Egypt yesterday. He also said the establishment of a Palestinian state in 2005, as called for in the U.S.-backed road map to peace, was possible and that the Palestinians are working to ensure a "real democracy" through January 9 elections for Palestinian Authority chairman...."We will not accept a temporary solution," said Abbas, the Fatah candidate for PA chairman.

Straw praises ''positive'' Israeli attitude
The Independent 11/25/2004
An upbeat Jack Straw praised Israel yesterday for its "very positive" attitude to the forthcoming Palestinian presidential election and suggested both sides could be on the verge of the best "opportunity for decades" to settle the conflict. Sylvan [sic] Shalom, the Israeli Foreign Minister, said he would welcome British monitors to observe the elections to succeed Yasser Arafat. Mr Straw, his British counterpart, said he was "much encouraged" by Israel''s stance, which Israeli ministers have indicated will include a military pullback from West Bank cities and provisions for Palestinians in east Jerusalem to vote.

The Telegraph: MKs, Palestinian officials to meet in U.K.
Ha''aretz 11/26/2004
British newspaper the Telegraph said on Friday that MK Omri Sharon (Likud) will lead a group of Israeli officials set to arrive in the U.K. next week to meet with Palestinian security officials ahead of the upcoming Palestinian elections. Palestinian national security advisor, Jibril Rajoub and Sharon will meet in what organizers have called a "seminar" rather than official talks in Oxfordshire county.

Quartet insists Israel must ease restrictions for elections
Daily Star 11/24/2004
Group promises key support in polls -- Members of the "Quartet" of Middle East peace mediators urged Israel on Tuesday to ease restrictions on Palestinians before January elections to choose a successor to late President Yasser Arafat. The group - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - agreed to help the Palestinian Authority pay for the elections, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told reporters. Annan was speaking after a high-level meeting of the Quartet in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they are attending an international conference on Iraq.

Abbas backs Palestinian refugees
AlJazeera 11/23/2004
Interim Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has told parliament that he will follow in Yasir Arafat''s footsteps and demand that Israel recognise the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Abbas spoke a day after a small group of leaders of the ruling Fatah movement chose him as its candidate for 9 January elections for Palestinian Authority president, despite demands by Fatah''s young guard that a primary be held. The speech marked the first time since Arafat''s death on 11 November that Abbas outlined his views on the conflict with Israel.

Abed Rabbo: US, Quartet Credibility on Trial
Palestine Media Center 11/20/2004
Palestinian Elections Should Be Part of a Process -- Yaser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and co-author of the unofficial Geneva Initiative, said Saturday that US credibility will be put on trial as Palestinians brace for elections on January 09. Speaking to Al-Quds daily on Saturday, the former Culture and Information Minister said that the real challenge for the US will be to provide the necessary conditions for the success of the Palestinian elections by pressuring Israeli into withdrawing its occupation forces to the pre-28 October, 2000 lines.

UN plans to oversee Palestinian elections
Ha''aretz 11/22/2004
The UN will be soon sending over a special delegation to help organize the elections in the Palestinian Authority. Diplomatic sources said last night that a technical delegation from the UN''s Electoral Assistance Division will arrive in the territories in the next few weeks. A senior official in the division who is involved in organizing the elections in Iraq will also arrive to supervise the process. In addition, the UN is planning steps to assist the new Palestinian leadership in obtaining funding for the PA''s budget by applying pressure on Israel to release PA tax monies that were collected and have been frozen in Israel, and by raising funds in the Arab world and in the West.

Powell Praised PA Steps, Handed No Demands
International Middle East Media Center 11/22/2004
Sharon: Israel, PA to Meet on Elections-- The meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell and a group of Palestinian leaders headed by PLO head Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho ended an hour ago. Palestinian foreign affairs Minister Nabil Sha’ath told reporters that Powell asked Palestinians to continue doing what they have been doing since Palestinian President Yasser Arafat died.

Burns Says Washington Backs Palestinian Elections
International Press Center 11/22/2004
RAMALLAH, Palestine, November 22, 2004 (IPC+ Agencies)--US Assistant Secretary of State, William Burns, stressed yesterday that Washington is backing the upcoming Palestinian elections, advisor of late President Yasser Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudaina, told reporters in Ramallah. "we called on the United States to work on pressurizing Israel facilitate holding the upcoming Palestinian elections, as such elections are necessary for choosing a new Palestinian president legitimately".

EU to send election observation mission to Palestine
Electronic Intifada 11/22/2004
Report, European Commission -- BRUSSELS - As one of the first acts of the European Commission, the Commissioner for External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner has decided to deploy an EU Election Observer Mission (EOM) to observe the Presidential Elections in the West Bank and Gaza scheduled for 9th January 2005. The decision is a concrete expression of the EU''s effort to support the development of democratic institutions and stability in the Palestinian Territories.

Bush''s plan to aid Palestinians runs into opposition
Ha''aretz 11/19/2004
WASHINGTON - Under pressure from key lawmakers, the Bush administration said on Thursday it would work with Congress on plans to resume direct U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority. The State Department told key congressional committees on Wednesday it intended to rush $20 million to the authority to help organize elections in January and pay Palestinian salaries, and that it would not need congressional approval to do so. But Tom DeLay, the powerful Republican leader in the House of Representatives, expressed "serious concerns" to the administration, a source close to the talks said.

US Officials: The Bush administration will help the Palestinian Authority fight “terrorism”
Palestinian Information Center 11/16/2004
Occupied Jerusalem – US officials and diplomats revealed that the Bush administration in cooperation with European allies are preparing plans to help the Palestinian Authority conduct elections in January and to improve its security forces to wage a war on what they called “terrorism” as they usually refer to Palestinian resistance.

PA: No Elections in East J''lem Means No Elections At All
International Middle East Media Center 11/16/2004
Shalom: East J''lem Arabs Won''t Be Allowed to Vote In the City -- Palestinian Authority interim Chairman Raouhi Fatouh said Tuesday that if Israel does not allow elections in East Jerusalem , "there will be no elections elsewhere". Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Monday that East Jerusalem Palestinians will not be permitted to vote inside the city. "There will be no elections in Jerusalem," although the Palestinians will be able to ballot by mail, as they have in the past, Shalom said.

Palestinian elections unsettle Israel
By Khalid Amayreh, AlJazeera 11/15/2004
After the death last week of Palestine Liberation Organisation Chairman Yasir Arafat, Israel has indicated that it is yet to decide whether or not to allow Palestinians unfettered elections. Palestinians argue that while the Israeli army occupies the West Bank and controls the bulk of the Gaza Strip it is impossible for them to hold free, fair and transparent elections. The ubiquitous Israeli roadblocks impede campaigning, an essential process for any election, and many significant Palestinian leaders remain in Israeli prisons.

Shalom: East J''lem Arabs won''t be able to vote in the city
Ha''aretz 11/15/2004
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom pledged Monday all possible help for the Palestinians in holding elections in January but said the 200,000 Arabs who live in East Jerusalem would not be permitted to vote there. "There will be no elections in Jerusalem," although the Palestinians will be able to ballot by mail, as they have in the past, Shalom said. "Jerusalem is the eternal capital - undivided capital - of Israel and of course we will do everything to keep it that way," Shalom said after a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

PM favors granting East Jerusalem Arabs voting rights in Palestinian Authority elections
Ha''aretz 11/15/2004
The government will be holding a comprehensive debate soon on the participation of East Jerusalem''s Arab residents in the upcoming Palestinian Authority elections, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced at yesterday''s cabinet meeting. "I don''t know whether their voting can even be prevented after they already voted in the previous elections in 1996," Sharon noted, referring to the last PA polls in which East Jerusalemites voted, via mail-in ballots. Several ministers who were present at the meeting received the impression that Sharon is leaning toward allowing East Jerusalem Arabs to vote.

Barghouthi
International Middle East Media Center 11/15/2004
As his wife Fadwa Bargouthi announced his interest to run for the PA Chairman position slated for January 19, PA elections, Jailed Fatah West Bank leader, and Palestinian legislator Marwan Bargouthi 45, occupied the news headlines. Bargouthi, whom Palestinians consider as the Palestinian Mandela, but Israel considers a terrorist, is serving a life term sentence in an isolated cell inside a well guarded Israeli jail. In the past few days, media sources reported a possible prisoners'' exchange deal that might include Bargouthi and the jailed in Egypty Israeli spy Azam Azam. Few media sources even mentioned that Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard could be included in the reported deal.

Voting right for East Jerusalem urged
AlJazeera 11/14/2004
Palestinian negotiations minister Saib Uraiqat has appealed to the international community to pressure Israel to allow Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to vote in the forthcoming Palestinian presidential elections. "The Oslo peace accords had specified that Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem be allowed to take part in elections," he said. "They did vote in the first and so far only elections in 1996. The statement of the Israeli foreign minister to exclude the people of East Jerusalem from these elections is sowing the seeds of obstructionism," said Uraiqat.

U.S.: E. J''lem Residents Should Be Allowed to Vote in PA Election
International Middle East Media Center 11/14/2004
American sources in Washington said Saturday that the United States will press Israel to allow East Jerusalem residents to participate in elections for a new Palestinian Authority chairman. The same sources also said that Washington will not demand a full withdrawal of Israeli troops to the pre-September 2000 lines, but will ask Israel to withdraw troops from Palestinian cities and to ease Palestinian travel throughout the West Bank.

Analysis / Elections are the focus now
Ha''aretz 11/13/2004
Ariel Sharon''s office always expected U.S. President George W. Bush to stand by his promises to the prime minister and reject British Prime Minister Tony Blair''s demand for immediate talks between Israel and the Palestinians. And when they saw the joint press conference given by Bush and Blair on Friday, they were not disappointed: Bush took care of Sharon....The United States views democracy as an essential condition for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and it pledged to help hold elections in the territories. Israel will also be required to contribute to the success of these elections, which are meant to legitimize Mahmoud Abbas as Yasser Arafat''s heir.

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)

PCHR Welcomes Declaration of Date for Presidential Election and Calls for Intensive Efforts to be Made to Hold Parliamentary Elections in 2005
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 11/18/2004
PCHR welcomes the decision taken by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to hold a presidential election to choose a new president for the PNA to succeed the late President Yasser Arafat on January 2005.PCHR also calls for intensive efforts to be made in order to hold parliamentary elections at an appropriate time in the same year.

Israeli Security: “Palestinian Presidential elections will be held soon, but not within two moths"
International Middle East Media Center 11/13/2004
An Israeli security source said that the Israeli security believes that the Palestinian Presidential elections will be conducted soon, but not within two months. Haaretz news website said that the Israeli security services started to conduct discussions and security measures during the elections, and claimed that it is weighing the possibility of reduces the number of military forces in the Palestinian areas during the elections.

People..

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

West Bank university poll boosts Abbas
Ha''aretz 11/30/2004
The Palestine Liberation Organization''s Fatah Party won student elections at the West Bank''s largest university on Monday for the first time in eight years. Fatah won 38 seats on the 81-seat student council at Al-Najah University in Nablus, defeating Hamas for the first time since 1996. Hamas won 36 seats. Palestinian university votes are often considered a barometer of wider trends among the people.

Survey: Abu Mazen has support of 24 percent of Palestinians
Ha''aretz 11/22/2004
Some 24.2 percent of the Palestinian public would support Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in elections for head of the Palestinian Authority, provided that incarcerated Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti is not running, a survey has found. The survey, conducted by A-Najah University, also revealed that 45.1 percent of the public interviewed believes that Abu Mazen is able to run the Palestine Liberation Organization now that Yasser Arafat is dead, while 41.6 percent believe he would not be successful. During Arafat''s lifetime, Abu Mazen never garnered support in excess of three percent in a Palestinian survey.

Palestinians pay final respects at Arafat''s Muqata grave
Ha''aretz 11/13/2004
One day after the burial of Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, preparations were underway for elections for the top position. Many Palestinians paid homage to their departed leader, visiting his grave at the Muqata compound on Saturday. To the roars of tens of thousands of Palestinians, and shots in the air fired by tense Palestinian police and masked gunmen, Arafat''s flag-draped casket was borne through milling, surging crowds Friday for burial in a plot next to the office to which Israel confined the Palestinian leader for nearly three years.

International..

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..