MIDDLE EAST: Party candidates defied an Israeli ban by addressing voters, writes Michael Jansen, in Jerusalem
Palestinian and foreign media and determined Palestinian voters met at the Ambassador Hotel in east Jerusalem yesterday to hear statements from more than a dozen candidates seeking seats in the Palestinian parlia- ment. But no one knew if the event had been licensed by Israel. If not, it was an illegal gathering. As people assembled they asked: "Will the Israeli police intervene and detain the candidates?"
Campaigning is banned in the city which Israel claims as its exclusive capital. The Islamic movement Hamas is barred from fielding candidates in Jerusalem but Hamas candidates are standing as independents when campaigning, and their names are on electoral lists alongside the party emblem. Hamas has even hired a public relations adviser to boost its image.
The master of ceremonies, Azmi Bishara, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and Knesset member, introduced the candidates who delivered a brief statement, paying particular attention to the glassy eyes of the cameras. The ruling Fateh party was represented by several stalwarts and its main rival by a man identified as a member of Hamas by the cut of his beard. Mr Bishara blurted the name of his party, then withdrew it with a laugh. The audience tittered.
Hanna Siniora, a Christian candidate, said Hamas is likely to do well here, particularly in the district race. It has put up only four candidates for the four seats while there are several Fateh candidates and Fateh independents competing, splitting the Fateh vote.
Mr Siniora observed that Hamas candidates include representatives of the poor and former prisoners and are clear of the corruption which afflicts secular Fateh.
Hind Khoury, the Palestinian minister of state for Jerusalem affairs, stated: "Israel's terms are unfair. Less than five per cent of Jerusalem's 120,000 voters are allowed to vote in the city." The rest have to go to the suburbs through checkpoints and barriers.
Mrs Khoury added: "The Israelis decided only on January 15th to allow Palestinians in Jerusalem to vote. Co-ordination began on the 16th and we began to exchange information on the 21st [ for polling on the 25th]. All details of the election are coordinated with the Israelis, including the receptacles [ in which ballots will be placed]. They are interfering in the democratic process on every level."
The Palestinian Authority said the legislative election would be cancelled if Jerusalem was not allowed to vote. "The US and Europe put pressure on Israel to permit it to take place," said Mrs Khoury, adding that Hamas, which boycotted the first council election in 1996, was so eager to take part it was ready to go ahead without Jerusalem.
She reflected the view of many Palestinians when she said Israel is enhancing Hamas's prospects by adopting a hard line against it. Palestinians fear that if Hamas comes to power, Israel will refuse to negotiate with their leaders on the ground that they are "terrorists".
Mrs Khoury, a Christian from Bethlehem, said: "I am not against religious people taking part. I am religious myself. They can bring clean government but fundamentalists can also change the social system, gender policy, and education."
Meanwhile, Fateh's top candidate, Marwan Barghouti, said he hopes the vote will produce a "national reformist government with a wide popular base". He spoke for the first time in a televised address from an Israeli prison, where he is serving five life terms. He said Palestinians would honour their "martyrs" by casting their votes, naming the late president, Yasser Arafat, and Hamas founder Shaikh Ahmad Yassin.
Deputy premier Nabil Shaath predicted that Fateh would win and said it would form a coalition government with parties willing to negotiate with Israel. Hamas would be included only if it renounced violence. The latest polls indicate that Fatah and Hamas are running neck-and-neck.