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Election deflation

Rima Merriman 7 January 2005


With “election elation” in the air (as a Palestinian journalist put it), people ask me here in the United States how I feel about the potential for peace in the occupied Palestinian territories. Much as I long to feel elated, I must admit to a sinking heart. The reason for my pessimism is based on the rhetoric that continues to be put out by both sides and by the US and on Israel’s continuing project of “creating facts on the ground”. Neither side in the conflict is listening to what the other is saying. Certainly no one is listening to what the Palestinians have to say. 

Palestinian elections: A democratic exercise in futility

Maureen Clare Murphy 7 January 2005


It is fair to say that despite not having a presidential election since 1996, Palestinians are hardly euphoric over the upcoming vote. While President Bush stated December 20, “There will never be peace until a true democratic state emerges in the Palestinian territory,” Palestinians and anyone else who cares to examine the realities happening on the ground, know that peace depends on the cessation of the Israeli military occupation Palestinians have been enduring since 1967, the reaching of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, and the ability for both Israelis and Palestinians to exercise their self-determination. 

Barghouthi detained for over 2 hours in Jerusalem on last day of presidential campaign

7 January 2005


Palestinian Presidential Candidate Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi detained for over two hours in East Jerusalem on the last day of the presidential campaign. Barghouthi visited East Jerusalem on the last day of the presidential campaign. He met with President Jimmy Cater at the Seven Arches Hotel in East Jerusalem. He told President Carter that he was going to the Old City to attend Friday prayers at the al-Aqsa Mosque. President Carter indicated that if he got arrested he should let him know. He did not take this seriously, as he had a permit to enter Jerusalem up till 2 pm that afternoon. The permit, furthermore, does not specify places Dr. Barghouthi is not ‘allowed’ to visit. 

Israeli conduct in West Bank and Gaza did not change during election campaign

Arjan El Fassed 7 January 2005


Today, is the last day of the election campaign. Media reports say that the Israeli army will halt operations in the occupied Palestinian territories “to avoid interfering with Sunday’s elections”, however, Israel has already interfered with the elections since the start of the election campaign. Since November 25, Israeli forces have killed 68 Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories. Most of them in the Gaza Strip. Seven Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank. EI’s Arjan El Fassed cautions media from reporting the elections were “free”. 

Challenging NPR's cunningly worded "correction"

Nigel Parry 6 January 2005


On Morning Edition on 6 January 2005, NPR issued the following correction: “In a story about upcoming Palestinian elections, Presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as labeling Israel as the “Zionist enemy.” We could have given more context for his statement. We said it was in response to violence, but did not specify that the violence was an Israeli tank shell that killed seven Palestinians.” In a letter to Jeffrey Dvorkin, National Public Radio’s Ombudsman, Nigel Parry challenges NPR’s cunningly worded correction. 

Touch it and die

Mark Perry 6 January 2005


Writing about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is like writing about the “theater of the absurd”: it means penning reviews on tragicomedies that reflect the impermanence of values that question the validity of structured conventions and highlight the precariousness of human life. The shocking truth about such theater is that its dark and brooding mien serves as a thin cover for its laugh-out-loud quality. A review of the past year provides a number of skits from a particularly inspired performance. Mark Perry reflects for the Palestine Report. 

Free and Fair Palestinian Elections not Possible Under Military Occupation

5 January 2005


Today the Israeli military declared the closure of the Erez border crossing with the Gaza Strip for 48 hours, blocking the movement of all Palestinians into and out of the Gaza Strip. The closure also prevented Palestinian Presidential candidate Mustafa Barghouthi from leaving Gaza to campaign in the West Bank until late this evening. Yesterday, in the Gaza Strip seven Palestinian civilians, five of them children, were killed by an Israeli tank shell in Beit Lahia. Areas in Khan Yunis, Beit Lahia and Rafah remain under Israeli military siege, making it impossible to carry out a presidential election campaign there. Last week a 17 year-old boy, Riziq Musleh, was shot by an Israeli sniper in Rafah while attempting to hang a campaign poster. 

Palestinian Elections: Charting the Palestinian Future

Haithem El-Zabri 5 January 2005


Presidential elections in occupied Palestine are just 4 days away, and the two leading contenders � Mahmoud Abbas and Mustafa Barghouthi � are worlds apart in what they bring to the Palestinian cause.� Haithem El-Zabri offers a comparative overview of their backgrounds and positions on the issues, and how the international community is responding.� 

On the Narrow Shoulders of Abu Mazen

Roni Ben Efrat 5 January 2005


The Herzlia Conference has become, in the last few years, Ariel Sharon’s favorite forum for addressing the nation. One year ago (December 18, 2003), the Israeli PM used it to high dramatic effect: If the Palestinians do not take steps, he said, to quash terrorism within six months, as prescribed by the Road Map, Israel would disengage unilaterally from the Gaza Strip. The speech was curt and tense, without optimistic flourishes. This year (December 18, 2004), Sharon’s Herzlia speech was euphoric. The year 2005, he announced, would be “the year of opportunities.” Roni Ben Efrat comments. 

Flashpoints.net: Israel's killing of 7 children in Gaza and NPR's coverage

Dennis Bernstein 5 January 2005


Listen to an interview with EI cofounder Ali Abunimah on Flashpoints, 94.1FM, Berkeley, California. Senior producer Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Mohammed Omar in Rafah about Israel’s killing of seven Palestinian children in Gaza, and Dennis Bernstein interviewed EI’s Ali Abunimah about National Public Radio’s lack of reportage of the incident. The show was originally broadcast on Flashpoints on 4 January 2005.