{"id":45243,"date":"2021-04-30T18:34:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T18:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45243"},"modified":"2021-04-30T18:34:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T18:34:44","slug":"eu-palestinian-poll-delay-deeply-disappointing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45243","title":{"rendered":"EU: Palestinian poll delay \u2018deeply disappointing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nAMMAN:\u00a0The EU has urged Israel to ensure that Palestinian elections are held across all territories, including East Jerusalem, following a unilateral decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to delay polls planned for May 22.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe Palestinian leader said that the fear Jerusalem would be excluded from the electoral process was the only reason for postponing the poll.<\/p>\n

\nAbbas, 85, blamed Israel for uncertainty about whether it would allow the election to proceed in Jerusalem as well as in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.<\/p>\n

\nThe official confirmation of the lists and campaigning was due to begin on April 30.<\/p>\n

\nEU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the Palestinian president\u2019s decision late on Thursday as \u201cdeeply disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe strongly encourage all Palestinian actors to resume efforts to build on the successful talks between the factions over recent months. A new date for elections should be set without delay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nBorrell added: \u201cWe reiterate our call on Israel to facilitate the holding of such elections across all of the Palestinian territory, including in East Jerusalem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nHe called for calm and restraint from all actors \u201cat this sensitive time,\u201d AFP reported.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe firmly believe that strong, inclusive, accountable and functioning democratic Palestinian institutions based on respect for the rule of law and human rights are vital for the Palestinian people, for democratic legitimacy and, ultimately, for the two-state solution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nThe decision to delay the poll has further deepened Palestinian divisions.<\/p>\n

\nProf. Sari Nusseibeh, former president of Al-Quds University and the No. 2 candidate on the Mustaqbal list, called on Abbas \u201cto resign from the Fatah Central Committee and the presidency, allowing the prime minister to restart the negotiations and its committees immediately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nNusseibeh a life-long Fatah member, who was also imprisoned by Israel, told Arab News that this is the only way \u201cto avoid an explosion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nHe said: \u201cThe Palestinian people are about to explode, and the best way to get out of this dilemma is by insisting on elections and allowing for campaigning to begin. This might require civil disobedience within the democratic structures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe Palestinian Central Elections Commission on April 18 condemned the arrests by Israel of candidates, particularly those running in occupied Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nSimilar to previous elections, Jerusalemites are scheduled to vote at six post offices in East Jerusalem, which hold a maximum capacity of 6,300 voters. This action requires Israeli approval due to post offices remaining under Israeli control.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nDimitri Diliani, a Jerusalem resident and spokesperson of the pro-Dahlan Reform faction, told Arab News that \u201cthe cancelation of the elections is a way for Mahmoud Abbas to escape the reality that he and his associates are hated by the Palestinian people. Abbas simply gave up whatever was left of Palestinian democracy, and put it under his autocratic regime and made it a subject of Israeli manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe US State Department appeared to distance itself from the Palestinian vote, with spokesperson Ned Price telling reporters in Washington: \u201cThe exercise of democratic elections is a matter for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian leadership to determine. We believe in an inclusive political process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nTor Wennesland, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said that he \u201cfully understand the disappointment of the many Palestinians who have so clearly expressed a desire to exercise their democratic rights after nearly 16 years without elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nWennesland called for a new election date to be announced and \u201cencouraged Palestinians to continue on the democratic path. The holding of transparent and inclusive elections throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, including in East Jerusalem as stipulated in prior agreements remain essential for renewing the legitimacy and credibility of Palestinian institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nA statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry called on Israel to \u201cend its obstructive policies and to respect the provisions of the 1995 Oslo Interim Agreement so that the Palestinian elections will be conducted at the earliest possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe ministry said that it hoped the decision to postpone the elections \u201cwill not have a negative impact on the intra-Palestinian reconciliation process, to which our country attaches great importance. We encourage all Palestinian groups to continue working toward unity and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nLoud protests took place in Ramallah while Abbas met with his advisers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nFatah cadres held rallies throughout the West Bank supporting Abbas and his insistence on the inclusion of Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nProtests in Gaza and statements by top Hamas officials hint at a difficult summer if the decision to halt the elections is maintained.<\/p>\n

\nBethlehem Mayor Anton Salman said: \u201cAll Palestinians want Jerusalem to be part of the elections.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nHe called on the international community to \u201cstand up to Israeli attempts to change the status of Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nSuheir Ismael Farraj, head of a center for training women in media, said on her Facebook page that self-censorship might be the reason more people have not protested.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cAs Palestinians, we have learned from childhood to oppose injustice and to resist the Israeli occupiers, but the danger to livelihoods has forced many to stay quiet. The PA needs financial help, parties need their monthly stipend, government employees are afraid to lose their jobs and even civil society organizations are afraid because they don\u2019t want the government to obstruct their work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AMMAN:\u00a0The EU has urged Israel to ensure that Palestinian elections are held across all territories, including East Jerusalem, following a unilateral decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to delay polls planned for May 22.\u00a0\u00a0 The Palestinian leader said that the fear Jerusalem would be excluded from the electoral process was the only reason for postponing the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}