OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, December 21, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
While Israel announced on Wednesday, December 21, barring Palestinians
living in Al-Quds (occupied east Jerusalem) from casting their ballot
in the legislative elections, the Palestinian resistance movement
Hamas urged Egypt to help hold the polls as scheduled on January 25.
"We
will not allow there to be any polling booths in Jerusalem for the
Palestinian elections," an official in Israeli Premier Ariel
Sharon's office told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"In
the past, we have allowed Palestinians to vote in post offices but not
this time," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Israel
had initially been reluctant to allow voting in Al-Quds for the
presidential elections in January.
It
reluctantly allowed Al-Quds residents to vote in post offices after
pressure from the United States, but confusion over voter registration
prevented many from casting their ballot.
Israel
captured and then annexed Al-Quds after the 1967 war but the
international community still regards the holy city, home to nearly
200,000 Palestinians, as an occupied territory.
Al-Quds
is home of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam third holiest shrine, and represents
the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Scuttling
the Vote
Nabil
Abu Rudeina, the spokesman of the Palestinian Authority, accused
Israel of violating its agreements and hindering the electoral
process.
"We
urge Israel to respect the agreements which allowed the elections to
take place in Al-Quds in 1996," he said in reference to the last
legislative election.
Chief
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat also condemned the decision,
calling it part of an Israeli design to sabotage the whole election.
"This
is clear evidence that they are trying to destroy the election in
general so they can say they have no Palestinian partner" in the
peace process, said Erakat.
Erakat
added that he had sent an urgent message to senior US State Department
envoy David Welch, urging him to help avoid "a disaster for the
Palestinian people and the region in general."
On
Time
 |
|
Palestinian sources told IOL Soliman (L) would press Hamas and other factions to postpone the January elections. (Reuters)
|
Hamas,
for its part, called upon regional heavyweight Egypt to help hold the
legislative elections as scheduled on January 25.
"We
urged Egypt to help the Palestinian people and the PA to hold the
elections on time," read a statement issued by the resistance
group, a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net.
"Postponing
the polls will have adverse impact on the Palestinians," said
Saeed Seyam, a senior Hamas leader.
He
maintained that holding the voting on time will preserve the unity of
the Palestinian people and foil any foreign intervention attempts.
Well-placed
Palestinian sources told IOL that Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar
Soliman, currently visiting the occupied territories, would
"press Hamas and other Palestinian factions to postpone the
elections after US and European pressures on the PA and President
Mahmoud Abbas to bar Hamas from contesting."
EU
Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said on Sunday, December 18, that
if Hamas won the elections, it would be "very difficult that help
and the money that goes to ... the Palestinian Authority will continue
to flow".
In
a resolution approved on Friday, December 16, the US House of
Representatives threatened the PA that it risked losing US financial
aid and other support if it allowed Hamas to contest the legislative
polls.
Hamas,
which is putting up candidates for parliament for the first time, is
expected to do well against President Mahmoud Abbas's fractured Fatah.
The
resistance group has won in three out of four West Bank cities in last
week's local ballot.
The
results illustrated Hamas's grass-roots strength especially at a time
when Fatah is in disarray after a group of popular leaders broke away
to form their own faction for the January election.
Also
read:
Help
Preserve Al-Quds Identity: Qaradawi
Third
Al-Quds International Day Marked on Internet
Al-Quds
Natives Back To Preserve Identity
Israeli
Plots Target Identity of Al-Quds Village
