The word democracy originates from the Greek demokratia: the components of the word being aredemos (the people), kratein (to rule), and the suffix ia. The term means “rule by the people”. In other words, democracy in its ideal sense is the notion that “the people” — in this instance, the Palestinian people - should have control of the government ruling over them. Recent moves by the EU and the US to interfere with and influence the outcome of the upcoming Palestinian elections are counterproductive and an insult to large segments of Palestinian society. Moreover, statements made by the US and EU are inconsistent and tend to promote violations of basic human rights. Read more about EU and US disrupt Palestinian elections 

The European Union threatened today to curb aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas wins next month’s Palestinian Legislative Council elections. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, following his recent shelving of a report critical of Israeli policies in Jerusalem, said during a visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories that if Hamas won the elections, it would be “very difficult that the help and the money that goes to… the Palestinian Authority will continue to flow”. Relations between Israel and the EU have warmed recently, with Israel agreeing to allow EU representatives to monitor the crucial Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Read more about Solana exposes European bias towards Israel once again 

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana successfully lobbied EU foreign ministers to suppress a report documenting the devastating effects of Israel’s separation wall and colonies in Occupied East Jerusalem. Solana argued that publishing the report would hurt Israeli sensitivities and would cause the EU to lose influence. Electronic Intifada co-founder, in a letter to Solana, argues that EU indulgence of Israel is like the action of “a person who provides an alcoholic with money for booze and a car to drive while drunk while saying that to do otherwise would offend the sensitivities of someone who is a great danger to himself and others.” Read more about Letter: EU's Solana pushes cover-up of Jerusalem report 

New documents obtained by EI under the UK’s Freedom of Information Act (2000) indicate that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was asked to personally lobby Israeli officials on behalf of a UK company whose work helps extend Israel’s administrative and legal structures into Occupied East Jerusalem in violation of international law and long-standing UK policy. The new documents indicate not only the high importance the British government attached to the contract, but that British officials dismissed concerns that the company’s work could violate British policy on the status of Jerusalem. EI co-founder Ali Abunimah reports this exclusive. Read more about EI EXCLUSIVE: Did UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw help sell out Jerusalem? 

A draft report by the Jerusalem and Ramallah heads of missions, representatives of the EU member states, to their foreign ministers, was leaked to the media. In the report the diplomats recommend a more critical approach toward Israeli policies in East Jerusalem. The diplomats want clear statements by the EU and the Middle East Quartet that Jerusalem remains “an issue for negotiation by the two sides,” and that the EU should call on Israel to desist from “all measures designed to pre-empt such negotiations.” The diplomats want the EU to request Israel “to halt discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, especially concerning working permits, building permits, house demolitions, taxation and expenditure.” Read more about EU diplomats slam Israel's policies in occupied Jerusalem 

President Bush rolled out the red carpet for his Palestinian protege, Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting in the Rose Garden, in terms of staging, equaled anything that President Clinton had done with his friend, Yasser Arafat, in the heyday of the Oslo agreements. Pessimists, on the one hand, believe that nothing will happen until after the Israeli elections, probably set for November 2006. And that means continued rolling violence between now and then. Read more about Withdrawal from Reality? 

NGO Monitor, founded by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, has for some time now been deliberately spreading false and misleading information about NGOs in an attempt to discredit them. Their targets include some of the most established and respected human rights organizations. While their efforts to stifle a critical dialogue have proved unsuccessful, their efforts are relentless and it is important that they be exposed as part of an extremist, right-wing institution, closely linked with the Israeli government and military commanders, who do not have specific interest in human rights. Therefore, NGO Monitor should not be taken seriously by anyone interested in peace and human rights. Read more about NGO Monitor should not be taken seriously