Palestinian Elections

Mustafa Barghuti (Middle East Online photo)

Israelis hasten land grab in shadow of wall
The Guardian 12/14/2004
Bulldozers go in as expansion of settlements continues -- Sharif Omar has been waiting two years for the bulldozers, ever since Israel''s steel and barbed wire "security fence" carved its way between his village and its land. Last week the excavators and diggers finally arrived on the outskirts of Jayyous to lay the foundations for an expansion of the nearby Jewish settlement of Zufim, fulfilling the fears and warnings of its Palestinian neighbours.

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

Abbas Might be Allowed a Visit to Haram Al-Sharif Prior to Elections
International Middle East Media Center 12/31/2004
Israeli and Palestinian officials have been meeting to discuss the possibility of allowing PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas to make an election campaign visit to East Jerusalem and al-Haram al-Sharif. Media sources reported a meeting between Israel Police officials and Palestinian figures in a Jerusalem hotel on Thursday.

Abbas Speech Echoes Arafat’s Rhetoric
Forward 12/31/2004
TEL AVIV — Delivering his first-ever election speech last week, the leading candidate to replace Yasser Arafat as chairman of the Palestinian Authority sounded very much like his predecessor. Speaking before a crowd in Ramallah, the authority’s former prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, promised Palestinians that he will “fulfill their dream of an independent state.”...And yet, Abbas’s speech — indeed, his entire candidacy — has met with little response from Israeli officialdom. Complicating things, Israeli officials from Prime Minister Sharon on down are wary of seeming too enthusiastic about him, lest they taint him in his voters’ eyes as a secret Israeli lackey.

Abbas: Tear down this wall
AlJazeera 12/29/2004
Taking his campaign to succeed Yasir Arafat to the foot of Israel''s West Bank separation wall, interim Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has said there will be no peace until Israel tears it down. Abbas, demonstrating a new knack for popular politicking after decades as a deputy to Arafat, drew cheers from thousands in two cities hemmed in by Israel''s separation wall in his pursuit of election on 9 January as Palestinian president. "No [Middle East] peace can transpire with [Jewish] settlements and the wall," Abbas said on Wednesday.

Abbas'' opening campaign salvo: No settlement blocs
Ha''aretz 12/26/2004
Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) began his public bid to succeed the late Yasser Arafat at a rally yesterday in the town of Al-Bireh near Ramallah. Hundreds of supporters turned up to hear the candidate for the post of chairman of the Palestinian Authority announce that the Palestinians would adhere to the UN Resolutions 242 and 194 in order to claim their rights for a Palestinian state through a negotiated peace....Militant group Hamas welcomed Abbas'' speech, including his call for legislative elections, but urged him to follow through.

Abbas Promises Changing Methods, Not Demands
International Middle East Media Center 12/26/2004
New PLO head Mahmoud Abbas began his public bid for presidential elections at a rally Saturday in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, near Ramallah, affirming commitment to Palestinian national, historic and civil rights. "The Palestinian Authority would adhere to the UN Resolutions 242 and 194 in order to insure our right for a Palestinian state through a negotiated peace." Abbas told hundreds of his supporters. "We are loyal to the national principles and demand the removal of the separation fence and an end to settlements. We will not accept settlements, and that includes Ma''aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel," Abbas added.

Israel to lift curbs before vote
BBC 12/27/2004
Israel has approved measures it says are aimed at ensuring that next month''s Palestinian election goes smoothly. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the whole world had to see that Israel would allow a free and fair poll. The cabinet authorised the easing of restrictions in the run-up to the election, ordering the Israeli army to pull out of Palestinian cities. The announcement came as presidential frontrunner Mahmoud Abbas again urged an end to Palestinian violence.

Egyptian diplomats to monitor PA election
Ha''aretz 12/27/2004
CAIRO - Fourteen Egyptian diplomats left yesterday for the Palestinian Authority to join hundreds of election observers from several countries to monitor the January 9 Palestinian presidential election. Ambassador Rida Hassan told reporters that a total of 17 Egyptian observers will monitor voting in the West Bank and Gaza. Three other diplomats will join the delegation on January 2.

Hamas wins big in first local elections in W. Bank since ''76
Ha''aretz 12/26/2004
Hamas racked up significant achievements in Thursday''s elections for local councils in the West Bank. Haaretz has found that of the 26 races held, Hamas candidates swept seven, including for the villages of Bila in the Tul Karm region, Beita in the Nablus region, Silwad in the Ramallah region, Ubeida and Doha in the Bethlehem region, and Shoyuch in the Hebron region. Fatah won in 12 local authorities, including the towns of Abu Dis and Al-Azzariyeh east of Jerusalem, Halhul in the Hebron region, Jericho and the adjacent villages, and Azun near Tul Karm.

Blair pursues Mid-East mission
BBC 12/20/2004
A visit to the Middle East by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair this week is likely to lead to a limited form of conference designed to shore up a new post-Arafat Palestinian leadership. Such a conference - probably to be held in London in February following Palestinian elections on 9 January - would not herald the resumption of peace talks but would perhaps be a building block towards that end. The idea is that the new Palestinian leader would be encouraged to initiate reforms, to take control of security and to formulate a negotiating position for talks with Israel.

Sharon Rejects Right of Return; Return to 67 Borders
International Middle East Media Center 12/17/2004
In a televised speech at the Herzliya Conference on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that he had reached a “strategic agreement” with the U.S. president to totally reject the right of return, as well as rejecting any withdrawal from Jerusalem. He stated that "Israel will not withdraw to the 1967 borders, and will not evacuate settlements in the West Bank." Sharon said that he and Bush agree that "the new Palestinian leadership must show, at every step, their willingness to stop terrorism and incitement."

Gov''t: No need to halt settlements approved before 2003
Ha''aretz 12/15/2004
The government decision adopting the road map that obliges Israel "to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth," has no operative legal standing, according to the state''s response to a High Court petition by residents of Nirit, a south Sharon community inside the Green Line. The petition asks the court to rule that a suburb of the settlement of Alfei Menashe, over the Green Line from Nirit yet due to share Nirit''s infrastructure, is illegal, and to order a halt to the construction.

Prime Minister Qorei Decries Assassination and Settlement Expansion
International Press Center 12/5/2004
RAMALLAH, Palestine, December 5, 2004 (IPC+WAFA)-- Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmad Qorei (Abu Al''a) decried on Saturday the continued Israeli assassination policy that attempts on the life of Palestinian in the various Palestinian cities, towns, villages and refugee camps, Palestine News Agency (WAFA) reported.

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)

Cabinet To See New Fence Route After PA Vote
Miftah 12/31/2004
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will bring the revised route of the separation fence around Gush Etzion and the South Hebron Hills to the cabinet for approval next month, following the January 9 election for a new Palestinian Authority chairman. The route''s approval could spark conflict between Israel and the new Palestinian leadership, as the fence will penetrate deeply into the West Bank in order to encompass the Gush Etzion settlements.

Israel stops Palestinians voting in Jerusalem
The Guardian 12/30/2004
Israel was accused yesterday of undermining the election of a Palestinian Authority president by allowing only a few thousand Palestinians to vote in East Jerusalem. More than 100,000 will have to leave the city if they want to vote. The government has told the Palestinian Election Commission that it will not allow privacy screens in the voting booths in East Jerusalem post offices, nor will election officials be allowed to mark voters with indelible ink to prevent fraud.

PCHR publishes report on Palestinian voter registration
Electronic Intifada/PCHR 12/29/2004
On 28 December 2004, PCHR published a report evaluating the pre-election stage, including conclusions of the monitoring conducted by PCHR on the registration of voters in the last quarter of 2004. PCHR has sent two copies of the report to Dr, Hanna Nasser, Head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), and Dr. Rami Hamdallah, Secretary General of CEC.

Israel accused of obstructing Palestinian election in east Jerusalem
The Guardian 12/28/2004
Palestinian election workers say they are being obstructed and harassed in east Jerusalem by the Israeli security forces. Campaigners for the seven candidates to succeed the late Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority have been summoned for questioning by the Israeli security agency, the Shin Bet, and warned not to put up posters or canvass in Jerusalem.

Israel arrests Palestinian candidate
AlJazeera 12/27/2004
Israeli police have arrested a Palestinian presidential candidate as he campaigned in Jerusalem, witnesses said, in the latest incident to mar the run-up to elections for a successor to Yasir Arafat. Aides to Mustafa al-Barghuthi said he was taken into custody while meeting Palestinians in Jerusalem''s Old City, which Israel seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed as its capital in a move not recognised internationally.

PCHR Calls on International Community to Generate Pressure to Protect Elections
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights 12/19/2004
PCHR is gravely concerned about the increasing escalation of attacks launched by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and their consequences on the Palestinian presidential election which will be held on 9 January 2005.PCHR calls on the international community to pressure Israel and its occupation forces to stop such attacks to create a positive atmosphere that can allow Palestinians to exercise their right of elections and freely choose a new president for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

Hamas blasts arrest of municipal candidates as `political targeted killing''
Ha''aretz 12/20/2004
The Shin Bet security service''s arrest of four Hamas candidates in the upcoming municipal elections in the West Bank town of Dahariyeh is a "political targeted killing," according to a senior Hamas leader in the town. "Sometimes you miss and sometimes you hit, but the results are always the opposite of the goal you want to achieve," the man said. "The arrest will only bring about a wave of support that will help us win the elections," he added. The four men, arrested 10 days ago, are all well-known teachers who have directed Hamas charity activities in recent years in Dahariyeh and its surrounding villages.

Israel Arrested Five Candidates in Local Palestinian Elections
International Middle East Media Center 12/16/2004
Palestinian Local governing minister Jamal Shubaki urged Wednesday the international community to immediately intervene to end Israeli actions that hinders the ability of Palestinians to run free and democratic elections, demanding Israel to immediate release the detained five candidates to the December 23 local elections. On Wednesday morning, Israeli security forces arrested Dr. Taher Hamadia, a candidate for the Jericho municipality, raising the number of candidates arrested lately to five.

Photos: Destroying olive trees near Kharsina settlement
International Solidarity Movement 12/7/2004
Photo story: The recently expanded perimeter fence around Kharsina settlement near Hebron cuts through Palestinian farmland. The military chopped down and bulldozed dozens of olive trees. Hundreds more were incorporated into the settlement.

In Irtah and Far’un: Demolitions, Ghettoization, Settlement Industrial Zones and Environmental Devastation
StopTheWall.org 12/5/2004
In the two villages of Irtah and Far’un, south of the city of Tulkarem, the Occupation Forces have continued their ongoing confiscation and demolition policies. In these villages, the most recent implementation of these policies show the Occupation plans for the total ghettoization of communities isolated by the Wall. They also reveal the intended fate of these ghettos through the implementation of “industrial zones” that will bring devastation to the area.

People..

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

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..