The continuing farce of Israeli help in Palestinian elections
December 10, 2004
On Monday, I mentioned in this blog how Israel was tampering with Palestinian elections, by preventing independent candidate Mustafa Barghouthi from entering Hebron. On Wednesday, Barghouthi was beaten by Israeli soldiers near Jenin, as were people in his group (some of whom were hit with rifle butts and made to lie motionless on the floor for an hour). Thankfully, he was not hurt seriously, but was taken to hospital for check up. Or, as most Western media reported, he “claimed” he was beaten, adding insult to injury by instilling doubt on his account.
Not a single influential voice from the international community was raised to defend democratic principles and blast Israel for its actions. Of course, criticism of Israel is rarely heard for much graver incidents (from regular murders to home demolitions to dispossession), so is expecting pressure on Israel at this point naïve?
No it isn’t, not when the Bush administration and the British government, to name but two, have made such a big deal about the need for Palestinians to “democratize” (thus implying they weren’t already), and about the importance of the January 9 elections in the aftermath of Yasser Arafat’s death. Having put so much blame on the Palestinians for their miserable predicament, and having put the spotlight on their supposed challenge, they should be intervening.
And they have intervened, indeed. Not by pressing upon Israel its need to practice what it preaches, and its obligation to allow free movement for Palestinians – or at the very least the free movement of candidates. No. Their intervention has been limited to the practically public endorsement of their favorite “moderate” candidate for the job, and their criticism of other candidates for their candidacy; in fact, Marwan Barghouti is now being single-handedly held responsible for splitting up Fatah and the whole Palestinian society. As if democracy implied a foregone conclusion and a pre-determined consensus on the outcome – but the bullying goes on.
Today, clearly encouraged by the utter lack of interest from the outside world, which will probably only pay attention again on January 8 when the Occupied Territories will once more welcome the media circus, Israel has continued to mistreat the candidates.
Bassam Al Salhi was detained at a checkpoint near Jerusalem after a “scuffle” because he did not have a permit (as a Palestinian!) to enter Jerusalem. Mahmoud Abbas, Bush’s chosen one, of course, faces no restrictions whatsoever and can travel wherever he likes.
The EU has declared it will send 260 observers to monitor the Palestinian elections. It is now that they are needed, not only on January 9, not to monitor Palestinians, but to monitor Israelis.
