TWO REPORTS ON PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS

The following analysis via Dr. David Burrell, Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Notre Dame University. David asked two friends to offer up their thoughts on the elections....

Sun, January 29, 2006 4:15 pm

Here are two reports from the ground, the first (a two-phase report) from a Muslim Palestinian in Bethlehem, the other from a Christian Palestinian resident of Jerusalem. Noah Salameh, a graduate of the Note Dame MA in peace studies, directs a peace and reconciliation center in
Bethlehem; Bernie Sabella is a sociologist who has long studied Christian Palestinians, and has long been involved with Middle East Council of Churches.

from Noah Salameh (26 January 06)
The Palestinian Elections

The results of the Palestinian elections cause a fundamental change to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

I'm trying to look back and understand why the Palestinian people reacted and voted for Hamas, also those who have not been Hamas supporters before.

Fatah has been ruling the Palestinian people since the Oslo Agreement in 1994. Fateh selected the negotiation track and accepted the Oslo agreement and also the Road Map. This is on the political side. As Palestinians, our people are very disappointed from the achievement of the negotiations. I think that Palestinians gave too much support to Abu Mazen in the presidential election. After the elections we did not get the hoped for improvements in our lives - reducing the checkpoints, improving the economic situation, or fighting corruption.

So the weakness of Abu Mazen and the lack of support from the USA and the EU in the negotiations played a strong element in the Palestinian elections.

I think that the interference of the American money in the elections hurt what the American Consulate called "support for the democratic political organization".

This is what we call ‘you love someone until you kill him/her’.

Also I think that the money from the US supported the elites who already have money but lack credibility in the public.

So I think that everyone involved in this conflict and interested in peace has to evaluate the recent period and reconsider their policy and actions. I think that the Palestinian vote is a protest against the negotiation process, which lasted all these years without managing to open one checkpoint or cancel the British Emergency Laws, which rule since 1945, or have an impact on the corruption in the Palestinian Authority.

Peace is not just an agreement, it is changing the life of people, it is giving our children hope, it is ending the occupation, and it is stopping using double measures from the democratic worlds.

We – the Palestinian peace movement – will continue to struggle by nonviolent means against the occupation, the corruption and raise hope for the future of the children in Palestine and the world.

It is difficult to be optimistic in this time, but we have to work hard if we want peace based on justice, respect, equality and reconciliation.

Noah Salameh

follow-up from Noah Salameh:
Bethlehem, Saturday, January 28, 2006

It is three days after the Palestinian Elections and the victory of Hamas. Most reactions from inside Palestine, from Israel, Europe, the US, the whole world focus on the results of the elections, and not the democratic process and smooth functioning, the peaceful transfer of the
authority. And hardly anyone is looking for the reasons of these results.

For me in fact it is of highest importance to understand why the Palestinian people voted for Hamas. In my opinion, there are several reasons:

1) The failure of the peace process – the so-called peace process of the last decade did not produce any positive change in Palestinians’ daily
life. Even after the election of Abu Mazen, accepted by the Israelis as moderate candidate, Israel still claimed that there is no Palestinian partner for negotiations and refused to improve the restrictions on our life. We are still living in three cantons in the West Bank and all the
Palestinian cities are disconnected from each other.

2) The corruption - the trust in Fateh as the leading political party in the Palestinian Authority has been lost after years of corruption. Many Palestinians wanted to punish Fateh by voting for Hamas.

3) The double measures from the US and the EU on the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. When Israel kills 10 Palestinians or violates human rights, they voice very soft criticism, but if a Palestinian group kills any Israeli, all the US politicians and the EU condemn and punish the Palestinians
accusing them of terrorism.

Palestinians feel that whatever they do, they will never reach the level of support that Israel enjoys from the US and Europe, because the power of the Jewish lobby in the United States and the feeling of guilt from the Europeans towards the Jews and the fear from the accusation of anti-Semitism.

4) Since the Palestinian Nakba in 1948, the UN is discussing in almost every assembly meeting and Security Council the rights of the Palestinians and there are tens of decisions about the Palestinian rights and respecting Palestinian human rights, though these decisions have no effect at all. At the same time, UN decisions on Iraq, Sudan, Libya, or Bosnia are implemented by force. Israel is always an exception, so the Palestinians lost trust in the UN.

All in all, because of the above many Palestinians lost trust in the peace process, in Fateh, and in the world. For Palestinians it seems that there is no worse situation than the present one, what worse could happen? Palestinians show their disappointment and protest their difficult and worsening situation by voting for Hamas. They lost trust in the ‘democratic’ world; they lost hope in changing their situation through one-sided negotiations.

In my opinion, it is important to give the desperate Palestinians hope and prove to them that the democratic world is against occupation, against violations of human rights, and of Palestinian human rights in particular. The world should be against checkpoints and daily humiliation of
Palestinians, against confiscation of land and demolishing homes. The question remains why the world stands up now to demand Palestinians to change, while they never demand from Israel to change their treatment of the Palestinians, to stop building an apartheid wall separating between students and their schools and families from other parts.

I am not writing to defend Hamas or to criticize the democratic world. I feel pain because I cannot help my people to have their freedom without violence because there is not enough support from the world for our non-violent struggle and peace education. I do not think that nonviolent struggle can succeed in Palestine without strong support from abroad, by
pressure on Israel to respect Palestinian human rights, to humanize us in their laws, education and the military orders, which make Palestinian life hell.

There are still peace movements in Palestine, and the majority of Palestinians want peace based on justice, respect and equality.

Noah Salameh



Palestinian Elections: Victory for Democracy

Dr. Bernard Sabella, Jerusalem

January 27, 2006

I ran as a Fatah candidate in the January 25th Palestinian parliamentary elections and I won the trust of my people for one of the two Christian seats from Jerusalem. My campaign was not a sophisticated one as I attempted throughout to reach people in Jerusalem; its villages, refugee camps, towns and other communal localities on a person to person basis. I had also opportunities to address relatively large audiences, some of which topped 500 people. Throughout I learnt many lessons from my people as they aired their views on current developments and their expectations for the future.

Their concerns were mainly concerns related to daily preoccupations, special needs, services and the impact of the concrete wall and Israeli military occupation practices that separate them from each other and from their basic rights of movement, free access and normal living. They stressed the need for honest communication and periodic visits of their representatives. While
each locality has its unique problems, they are all willing to work together in order to come up with a comprehensive development plan that will include all of greater Arab Jerusalem.

In the village of Beit Anan, most Western village of Jerusalem, Jad a young Palestinian who just finished college and is unemployed spoke of the needs of young people. He elaborated his expectations and specified his plans for the development of his village of 5000 with the hope that projects that will generate employment opportunities will be launched. The village council president spoke of the medical needs of the community that does not have a clinic or even an ambulance. When there is a case that needs urgent medical attention, the trip to Ramallah takes more than one and the half hour in part due to the Israeli separation barrier and to the poor standards of the roads out of the village.

In the town of Sawahrah Ash Sharqiyah, 'Ali a young Fatah activist spoke eloquently of the need to reform Fatah. He said there are many young people whose commitment to Fatah is one of principle and they are sad when some irresponsible people "hijack" the movement and its principles for self interests and narrow goals. 'Ali was referring to some practices that
were part of the election campaigning and that weakened the ability of Fatah to perform more effectively. But Jad and 'Ali gave me inspiration that our young people who are committed to ideals and principles should be encouraged to become part of the political process. It is young people like Jad and 'Ali who are going to make the difference for our people and its future

In 'Arab Al Jahalleen, a Bedouin encampment turned village on the Eastern outskirts of erusalem, the concerns revolved around providing feed to livestock on a regular basis and with affordable prices. There was a request by the Sheikh of Jahalleen, Abu Ahmad, that those officials at the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture should be qualified to deal with the
questions related to land, agriculture and livestock. Abu Ahmad expressed concern that some staff members in the Ministry of Agriculture do not have the proper qualifications to fill their positions. As a joke, Abu Ahmad, said over a cup of specially brewed Arabic coffee that some staffers are educated in "Paris" and know nothing about Jahalleen and its agricultural and livestock needs.

During the campaign I have touched base with our people and saw the love we all have to the good earth of Palestine. I was also elated by the participation of Christian Palestinians in the process. A group of Christian organizations held an open debate for all 9 Christian candidates in the Arab Orthodox Club of Dahiat Al Barid, north of Jerusalem. Over 250 people attended and the debate among candidates was truly heated but polite with the written questions from the audience touching on hot political, social and other issues and agendas pertaining to each of the candidates. On a more personal initiative, I held one meeting with over 100 Christian Palestinians and they were all of the opinion that participation in the election was a serious obligation.

Some ask me about the Hamas landslide. My own interpretation is that this is democracy and our Palestinian people have cast their vote. I would have loved to see my Fatah movement win a comfortable majority but this did not happen due to so many different factors. The challenge now is whether internal Palestinian reform can be accomplished without the adoption of
pragmatic positions on the political front. All Palestinians without exception want an end to Israeli occupation and the sooner the better. The question of how to accomplish this has been debated again and again in various Palestinian factions and movements over the years. Now that Hamas has become the political majority movement, the debate is going to be on its agenda. I realize that difficult and hard decisions await to be taken by Hamas. A movement that is at the helm of government is necessarily different from a movement in opposition or altogether out of government. I pray that Hamas would make the correct choices which are in the interest of our
people, first and foremost.

I am cautiously optimistic and I am not alarmed. We need lots of wisdom on all sides. I am confident that the quiet and yet dedicated approach shown by Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, our President throughout the elections campaign and upon the publication of the results would help greatly in the strenuous process that awaits all of us in the coming months. I realize that much work needs to be done and I am hopeful that I will be, together with my PLC colleagues, up to the challenge. Most important I promise not to disappoint the trust and confidence that Jad and 'Ali and thousands others of my Palestinian compatriots have placed in me. I also promise to work hard within our Fatah movement to re-haul it and move it forward.

In the end whatever gains we make in the PLC and in the Fatah movement will be the
gains of our Palestinian people.