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"Democracy" under Occupation

Donna Mulhearn Nablus, Palestine 11 January 2005


Perhaps you saw images of flag-waving youth in Ramallah. Or maybe you heard the optimistic words of George W Bush and other world leaders about new opportunities for peace. Yet from where I was sitting in the West Bank city of Nablus, one thing was clear: voting for a president in a state that does not actually exist will not change much in the lives of the people here. It is clear how much the Palestinians want peace and good government, but after hearing the glowing, yet often patronising, cliches about ‘Arab democracy’ that have been bandied about in the media recently, the fact remains that Palestine can never experience true democracy while it remains under occupation. 

Preliminary Statement on Palestinian Elections

11 January 2005


The 9 January election for the president of the Palestinian Authority represented a genuine effort to conduct a regular electoral process. Despite the difficult and tense conditions, Palestinian electoral authorities made adequate and sufficient arrangements for voters and the strong turn out showed that the public was enthusiastic to exercise its democratic rights. However, the occupation and continuing violence as well as restrictions on freedom of movement meant that a truly free election was always going to be difficult to achieve. 

Preliminary Evaluation of Monitoring over the Palestinian Presidential Election

10 January 2005


On Sunday, 9 January 2005, the Palestinian electorate went to polling centers to vote in the first presidential election under the Palestinian National Authority since 1996.  Despite the negative environment created by the continuous Israeli belligerent occupation and attacks launched by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians, which impacted on the electoral process over the past weeks, Palestinians insisted on participating in the election; demonstrating a spirit of determination to exercise their electoral right, despite the existence of occupation.  

Election Irregularities: Election Appeals Court rejects an appeal submitted by PCHR against allowing identity cards

10 January 2005


On Monday at noon, 10 January 2005, the Palestinian Election Appeals Court (EAC) rejected an appeal submitted by PCHR late on Sunday night, the 9th of January 2005, to issue a final injunction cancelling a decision taken by the Central Election Commission (CEC) to allow electors to vote using identity cards instead of relying on the electoral register.   A few hours before closing the polling, the CEC circulated instructions to officials of polling centers to allow citizens whose names are not registered in the electoral register to vote depending on checking their identity cards only and not relying on the electoral register.  

Democracy Now!: EI discusses Palestinian election results

Ali Abunimah 10 January 2005


EI’s Ali Abunimah was a guest on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman on 10 January 2005 to discuss the results of the election for president of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied territories. Abunimah said “Many Palestinians fear this is another setup so when the inevitable failure brought about by Israeli intransigence occurs, this will be another opportunity to blame the Palestinians, and accuse them of missing an opportunity once again.” 

CEC: Statement on the 2005 Presidential Election (includes official results)

10 January 2005


The 2005 Palestinian presidential election was held in an orderly fashion, thanks in great part to the cooperation received from Palestinian citizens. However, with respect to the electoral process to this point, the CEC makes the following two qualifications: 1. Israeli forces which continue to occupy Palestine imposed huge obstacles to the participation of Jerusalemite citizens in the elections. 2. On Election Day, the CEC received thousands of telephone calls from individuals whose names appear on the civil register, but who were unable to locate their polling centers. It became clear that this problem had the potential to deprive many voters of their voting rights. 

Media grossly exaggerate Palestinian voter turnout

Ali Abunimah 10 January 2005


How many Palestinians in the occupied territories actually voted in the January 9 election for president of the Palestinian Authority? Many major media organizations are reporting a turnout close to 70 percent. In fact the turnout was well below 50 percent as EI’s Ali Abunimah explains. The distinction between registered and unregistered voters is crucial to understanding the actual turnout figure, but it is a distinction the media have failed to grasp. 

Where is the bride?

Laurie King 10 January 2005


Yesterday’s presidential poll, like a stilted, shotgun wedding, had a strange energy — drained, anemic, and hesitant. No one seemed genuinely enthusiastic. The bride was not there, after all, and big issues and concerns were also missing. Universal human rights and international humanitarian law were not honored guests at this celebration. Inviting them might have elicited passions. Had that happened, Abu Mazen might have lost his title of “moderate candidate.” Yesterday’s elections did not choose a president so much as they formalized a rite of passage in the upper ranks of Fatah, passing the mantle of leadership of the Palestinian Authority from the late Yasser Arafat to Mahmoud Abbas, a.k.a., Abu Mazen. 

Election Irregularities: Mustafa Barghouthi campaign alleges "serious" election violations

9 January 2005


Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Palestinian presidential candidate, held a press conference at 7:30 pm on the evening of January 9, 2005, the day of the Palestinian presidential elections. At around 5:00 pm, Dr. Barghouthi and his campaigners found out via the media and word of mouth that the election rules and procedures had been changed. Neither he nor his campaign were officially informed. The changes were: 1. The voting process was prolonged for two additional hours. 2. The rules and procedures were changed such that people who were not registered in the elections registry were suddenly allowed to vote, which opened up the possibility of double or multiple voting. 

CEC: End of Polling

9 January 2005


The CEC has completed the polling process for the 2005 Presidential Election, and is able to present some information about voter turnout for the poll. The Head of the Electoral Commission, Dr Hanna Nasir, released that information to the media this evening in Ramallah. “Approximately seventy per cent of registered voters voted today,” said Dr Nasir, “While approximately only ten per cent of unregistered voters turned out.” A total of around 700,000 registered voters were joined at the polls by around 70,000 unregistered voters, including 30,000 who registered on arrival at the polling centres on election day.