Saturday, October 01, 2005
Palestinian Parliamentary Elections Are Pivotal
An excerpt from an interview with George Giacaman, who is head of Muwatin, the Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy, and teaches an MA course in democracy and human rights at Birzeit University.
Reform, as far as the US administration and Israel is concerned, is primarily control of security in the interest of the Israeli state. In fact, Israel isn't at all keen on Palestinian elections. Witness the recent statements by the prime minister and foreign minister of Israel regarding Hamas running for parliament. They are essentially putting conditions on who is going to run for the forthcoming elections. This is not only a clear case of interference in the internal affairs of Palestinians, but is highly undemocratic. It is a move that will impede the process of democratization in the Palestinian context. Read more
Reform, as far as the US administration and Israel is concerned, is primarily control of security in the interest of the Israeli state. In fact, Israel isn't at all keen on Palestinian elections. Witness the recent statements by the prime minister and foreign minister of Israel regarding Hamas running for parliament. They are essentially putting conditions on who is going to run for the forthcoming elections. This is not only a clear case of interference in the internal affairs of Palestinians, but is highly undemocratic. It is a move that will impede the process of democratization in the Palestinian context. Read more
