Saturday, January 28, 2006
Thanks to the commenter in the post below, I see the Sabeel blogger I mentioned in an earlier post has a couple of new entries up. The latest concerning the election results is most interesting, and does a good job of presenting the party line of the Arab narrative -- the Palestinian Arabs themselves are not really actors, their acts, including acts of terrorism, are viewed through a screen (indeed, the word "terrorist" appears only in scare-quotes), while Israelis are viewed as competent actors and their actions viewed in the full light of day and responsibility. Were the elections fair and democratic? No, but only because of Israeli decisions and the issues involving Jerusalem. Now, you would have to really, really not be paying attention to think Jerusalem and the Israelis were the only problems standing in the way of open democracy in "Palestine" (scare quotes!), but there it is, reported by a person who's working with a group relied upon by large numbers of American Protestants to explain the situation there. That's what makes Sabeel and people like this blog author a bit worse than just one more fool (or dhimmi) with a blog...they matter, and their descriptions and explanations -- explanations that are all politics and no substance -- are trusted to be accurate and describe reality in a useful manner. They are not and they do not, and that's something that people relying on them should be aware of.
Here's the comment I left at the blog. I post it here because I do not expect the blogger there to approve it for posting. Yes, I'm a little sarcastic again...
What is your opinion on Fatah's threat to "liquidate" any of its members who join with Hamas? Is that compatible with democratic norms?
In the extended entry I've posted a primer on elections and East Jerusalem that appeared at the beginning of January on a mailing list I subscribe to, prepared by someone at the Galilee Institute.
2. The Oslo agreements allow for RESIDENTS of "East" Jerusalem who are not CITIZENS of Israel to vote in these elections. Arab CITIZENS of Israel, whether they live in "East" Jerusalem or in Haifa, vote in Israel and NOT in the PA thus avoiding the double jeopardy issue.
3. The Oslo agreements stipulate that the entire PA election process will take place OUTSIDE the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. No PA voting or campaigning is allowed within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem.
4. The 1996 Cairo agreement which regulated both the 1996 and 2005 PA Presidential elections provide the legal background for this solution. In both 1996 and 2005 the PA set up voting facilities just outside the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem. In the PA municipal elections of January 2005, Israel allowed for voting facilities to be placed in a number of local Post Offices within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem in order to help facilitate the election process.
5. ALL legal RESIDENTS of the State of Israel hold blue teudot zehut (Civil ID Cards) and have yellow license plates no matter where they are from - the United States, the PA, Canada, Jordan, Afghanistan, Romania or Trinidad.
6. All legal RESIDENTS of Israel are allowed to participate in local municipal elections in the city or town of their residence.
7. ONLY legal CITIZENS of Israel are allowed to vote for or be elected to the Knesset.
8. According to a decision made by the Israeli government in the late 1960's, ANY legal RESIDENT of "East" Jerusalem is automatically granted Israeli Citizenship if he/she so desires - no questions asked. Since "East" Jerusalem moved from Jordanian control to Israeli in 1967 only 500-600 residents have chosen to become citizens of Israel. Legal RESIDENTS cannot vote for or be elected to the Knesset. Legal CITIZENS can vote for and be elected to the Knesset and are therefore ISRAELI and not PALESTINIAN and cannot vote in PA elections.
9. Based on all agreements with the PA signed to date, Israel is under no legal obligation of any kind to allow voting or electioneering within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem whether Hamas participates or not. The entire issue surrounds the Jewish term of "Lifnim Meshurat Hadin" or "going beyond the letter of the law."
10. Hamas has not accepted the Oslo agreements. Hamas has not accepted Israel's right to exist. Hamas continues to publicly support the use of terror against Israel and her civilians. Yet Hamas is running in an election which finds its constitutional legality in those same Oslo accords it does not accept.
11. Since she has no legal obligation, and very doubtfully a moral one, the State of Israel has, for the moment, a dilemma as to whether to go out of her way to facilitate these elections or not.
12. In summation: There is no question as to who is allowed to vote. There is no legal or procedural question as to where the voting should take place. There is simply the usual question about how far is Israel willing to go in order to help facilitate the PA's democratic process and how far she wishes to go in making it easier for people to reach the polling booths.
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Reporting on Hamas from Sabeel.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.solomonia.com/cgi-bin/mt4/mt-renamedtb.cgi/5550
IRIS Blog discovers that Ahmadinejad, the dictator of Iran, has met with Hamas leaders in Damascus. Read More
I found it interesting that "Sabeel Blogger" limits her news sources to BBC, Haaretz, and Electronic Intifada.
"If you want the real thing (in terms of news and analysis), in addition to going to BBC or Ha'aretz (Israeli newspaper) or another news source (many of which you can google and read online), there seems to be a good article written by someone I don't know: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4425.shtml"