ONE of the decisions Ariel Sharon failed to make before he was incapacitated by a stroke was whether Israel would allow Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem to vote in parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan. 25. The answer was provided yesterday when the Israeli Cabinet voted to allow them to take part in the poll. The decision was no surprise since both Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Sharon’s replacement, Ehud Olmert, had earlier said it would go ahead. But there were more than a few uncertain moments. Before his illness, Sharon had flatly stated there would be no election if Hamas ran.
The fog of uncertainty remained thick because of the recent statement issued by Israel’s Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra that Palestinians would be allowed to campaign in East Jerusalem as long as they did not belong to “militant groups like Hamas.” Even that was questioned when Mustafa Barghouti, former presidential candidate who heads the Independent Palestine list, and former spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi of the Third Way Party were both arrested for campaigning in East Jerusalem.
Internal Palestinian dissent complicated the matter. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades are furious after being overlooked by Fatah in the candidate selection process, and have been lashing out in violence. The Brigades, part of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, have been particularly violent in the Gaza Strip, recently killing two Egyptian border guards and creating a degree of lawlessness and chaos that could have prevented the upcoming elections. Abbas has said there was cross-factional Palestinian consensus that there would be no poll unless East Jerusalem’s Palestinians were involved. This is something that Hamas contested for it wanted the polls to be held on time. The conflicting positions pushed some observers to claim Abbas was privately hoping Israel would block the vote which few among the leaders of Fatah want, in view of the strong possibility that Hamas will do exceptionally well in the vote.
In the end, Abbas had Washington’s support for the voting to go ahead as planned and Israel did not want to be seen as being responsible for hindering the continuation of the Palestinian democratic process begun by Abbas’ election last year. Abbas’ election and this month’s polls are part of the US desire to see democracy spread in the Middle East.
The Israeli Cabinet decision is one of the most important taken by the government since Sharon suffered a severe stroke on Jan. 4. It is the correct one. Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967. It has annexed the area and views it as its exclusive domain, even though under international law the area is considered occupied territory. The area is called Arab East Jerusalem for a reason: The majority of its residents are Palestinians, and Palestinians hope to make it their future capital. The 200,000-odd Palestinians living in the eastern part of East Jerusalem were allowed to vote in an election in 1996. Hamas did not take part then but that should not make a difference now.
