Ma'an Jerusalem - After lengthy delays in making a decision, the Israeli government said early Tuesday that Jerusalemites may be able to vote in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections via mail.
But for most, this suggests they are not in their homes, but rather in another country. The Wall around Jerusalem is called the Jerusalem Envelope, and along with Ma'ale Adumim, Gilo, and Har Homa, among other settlements, access to the city is cut for most Palestinians. The Bethlehem Checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem is now a terminal which many consider will become an international border. The same is being done between Ramallah and Jerusalem to the north. That makes mailing in one's vote smack more of an absentee ballot than anything.
However, the Postal Authority said Tuesday morning that no one has told them anything of the sort regarding voting via mail. Palestinians in Jerusalem had called for voting in polling places for the PLC elections, and not inside post-offices as they were forced to in the presidential elections in 2005. Israeli military minister Mofaz said he would convene a meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue of the elections in Jerusalem.
President Abbas assured in a press conference from Gaza City last night that that PLC elections will be postponed if the Israelis prevent Jerusalem participation.
The President told the press, ‘We are on the way to elections and there's no doubt about it, but if something happens along the way, we'll decide how to act. We have not heard from the Israelis anything to make us certain voting will take place in Jerusalem. We've only heard vague things from them.’
It is only recently that the Israelis allowed limited PLC campaigning in the city.
On Sunday the Israeli police called on Jerusalem PLC candidates to Mascobia police and interrogation center to register their names and imposed rules of conditional campaigning. Those include hanging posters in specified locations and getting Israeli permission before holding political meetings or rallies. This looks radically different than the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the central West Bank city of Ramallah the lion statue in the city's center is barely visible under the flags and banners, candidates' photos and slogans. In Gaza City the streets are strung with campaign advertisements, slogans, and party platform information.
In condemnations, participation in the elections is confirmed to be the right of the Palestinian people, without any conditions imposed upon them. PLC Jerusalem candidate and current member, Hatem Abdel Kader, said, ‘The Palestinian side refused the Israeli conditions in this regard. We view the elections campaign as the right of all the candidate lists. We do not accept to put aside any Palestinian faction, and if Israeli insists to impose these conditions, we will do the campaign in the way we see fit.’
Head of Palestinian negotiations, Dr. Sa'eb Erekat told Ma'an, ‘The PA was not officially informed by the Israelis and their conditions in this regard.’ He stressed, ‘Palestinians, without any exception, have the right to participate in the elections, voting and campaigning.’
The Israeli government has long threatened to impede all PLC elections if the Hamas party were to run. Hamas is running, and this issue has been replaced in the Israeli dialogue with the issue of Jerusalem. The Israeli government began on the first day of PLC campaigning to arrest candidates in Jerusalem, such as Dr. Moustafa Barghouti. And in pre-campaigning preparations the Israeli police broke up a Fateh party meeting and threatened to arrest all those present. Also the night before Palestinian Elections Law legally allowed campaigning to begin on 3 January the Israeli military police in East Jerusalem arrested two campaigners for hanging posters and kept them in jail overnight.
Jerusalem residents have not known whether they will be allowed to vote, despite many candidates still at least trying to campaign there while risking arrest over the past week. But with this announcement this morning- that Jerusalem residents may vote via the mail- it is viewed as more of the same. This issue of Jerusalem in the elections has been debated, and it was agreed upon between most Palestinian parties, that they would not hold the elections without Jerusalem.
This is not only for the sake of the voters, but because the Israeli government continues to impose facts on the ground in East Jerusalem, in contravention to international law, that is changing its status into a Jewish city.
It has just come out this week also that the Israeli government is building a Synagogue under the Al Aqsa Mosque, second only in holiness for Muslims to Mecca. The construction in East Jerusalem began months ago while the Israelis claimed to be looking for antiques. Israel continues confiscation of Palestinian lands for settlement construction and to change East Jerusalem into an Israeli city, instead of the Palestinian capital. The issue of the PLC elections is just the tip of the iceberg.