[Imc-germany-audio] CKUT Radio: Palestine - Elections Under Occupation

[Stefan Christoff]

CKUT Radio: Palestine - Elections Under Occupation

Listen to an interview with George N. Rishmawi, from the International
Middle East Media Center (IMEMC), who shares his perspectives on the
upcoming Palestinian elections scheduled for January 9th, 2005. The
interview provides analysis on grassroots Palestinian democratic movements
struggling against Israeli occupation, while also addressing the specifics
on various presidential candidates and political parities participating in
the upcoming Palestinian elections.

-> To listen to the interview visit:
http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2005/01/3246.php

-> You can find find both an audio and written report on the upcoming
Palestinian elections by the International Middle East Media Center
(IMEMC) on-line at: http://www.imemc.org/

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Free and Fair Palestinian Elections not Possible Under Military Occupation
Press Release, International Solidarity Movement, 5 January 2005
{http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3481.shtml}

Today the Israeli military declared the closure of the Erez border
crossing with the Gaza Strip for 48 hours, blocking the movement of all
Palestinians into and out of the Gaza Strip. The closure also prevented
Palestinian Presidential candidate Mustafa Barghouthi from leaving Gaza to
campaign in the West Bank until late this evening.

Yesterday, in the Gaza Strip seven Palestinian civilians, five of them
children, were killed by an Israeli tank shell in Beit Lahia. Areas in
Khan Yunis, Beit Lahia and Rafah remain under Israeli military siege,
making it impossible to carry out a presidential election campaign there.
Last week a 17 year-old boy, Riziq Musleh, was shot by an Israeli sniper
in Rafah while attempting to hang a campaign poster.

In the West Bank, 15,000 Palestinians in the Jenin district who live
trapped between the Apartheid Wall and the Green Line have been denied
freedom of movement to campaign events. Similarly, in the Nablus district,
a suffocating system of checkpoints and ongoing military incursions make
it virtually impossible for citizens to carry out campaign activities.

In occupied East Jerusalem the Israeli government continues to attempt to
deny Palestinians' assertion of their identity and rights. The Palestinian
Central Elections Commission (CEC) is conducting a door-to-door campaign
in an attempt to register East Jerusalem voters. Israel has banned CEC
staff from carrying any documents identifying them with the CEC or the
Palestinian Authority, and from displaying the Palestinian flag and
colors.

Many Palestinian Jerusalem residents have expressed to International
Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteers their reluctance to vote in Sunday's
elections in fear that Israel will strip them of their Israeli-issued
Jerusalem identification card, and that they will consequently lose the
rights to which they are entitled as Jerusalem residents, and the benefits
that they have paid for through taxes.

Only four days before the election, Presidential candidates are still
struggling to obtain Israeli permits to campaign in East Jerusalem. Over
the past weeks, candidates Bassam Salhi and Mustafa Barghouthi have both
been arrested by Israeli police as they campaigned in East Jerusalem.

Over the next four days, ISM volunteers will continue to monitor and
report on Israeli violations of Palestinians' right to free elections,
particularly in East Jerusalem, and will stand with Palestinians as they
exercise their rights. It is already clear that only an end to Israel's
military occupation will allow for the conduct of free and fair elections.

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