Molly Picon

The Election Labyrinth of East Jerusalem



January 9, 2005 — Many friends and family in the US have asked me whether or not I thought the Palestinian elections would be conducted in a free and fair manner. Today was an eye-opener with respect to the meaning of ‘free and fair’. Take a deep breath, dear reader, and I will take you through the many twists and turns taken by Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who were trying to vote in the Palestinian Authority elections. Of the 124,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem only six thousand were eligible to vote within East Jerusalem itself due to Israeli imposed restrictions. Molly Picon reports from Jerusalem.