Haaretz on the Palestinian Election

from Haaretz:

[Free and open to all

Five days before the Palestinian Authority's election day, one gets the impression that Israel is uncertain that this is truly its heart's desire. The restrictions on movement between Palestinian cities and between different districts are still in force, even if checkpoints have been removed here and there; Palestinian prisoners have petitioned the High Court of Justice to grant them the right to vote; leading candidate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has been allowed to visit Jerusalem, but some other candidates who wish to campaign among the city's Palestinian population have been arrested or forbidden to enter. No less important, large Israel Defense Forces contingents remain in the Palestinian cities of the West Bank, despite promises that these forces would be withdrawn before the election.




During the days of Yasser Arafat, the government, and especially Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, laid down three basic conditions for continued negotiations with the Palestinians: the election of a new Palestinian leadership, the PA's adoption of a democratic system of government and an end to incitement against Israel.

At least with regard to the first two conditions, it seems that the Palestinians are not waiting for demands from Israel - they are seeking to implement these changes for themselves. Following Arafat's death, the Palestinian leadership could have made do with new appointments by the PLO's institutions and skipped the process of general elections. Instead, Abu Mazen and his colleagues hastened to call general elections for the presidency, and later in the year, they plan to hold elections for parliament as well.

Palestinian leaders have demanded that these elections encompass the entire Palestinian public, including thousands of prisoners and residents of East Jerusalem, since only comprehensive elections can give whomever is elected the legitimacy he needs to continue conducting diplomatic negotiations with Israel's government.

The elections, say the Palestinians, with the backing of international monitors, must be free in the fullest sense of the word. What such freedom means is that every person must be able to come to the polls without fear or pressure in order to exercise his right to vote. But it is doubtful that Palestinians fearful of IDF gunfire or lengthy delays at checkpoints will want to leave their houses to participate in the elections.

Israel ought to have a keen interest in the political legitimacy that Abu Mazen is seeking. If he is elected by a majority of the voters, he will be a partner for continued diplomatic negotiations, and it may even be possible to involve him in the disengagement plan.

Those who are demanding a new diplomatic program from the Palestinians - an end to incitement and the disarming of the militias and gangs - should know that this cannot be achieved via a Palestinian leadership that lacks public support.

To achieve this result, Israel must cease the political miserliness that has characterized it to date and immediately take steps that will prove - not only to the Palestinians, but also to the Israeli public and international observers - that it truly intends the Palestinian Authority election to be free and open to all.]