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bitterlemons-international.org
Middle East Roundtable /
Edition 4
Multiple sieges:
An interview with Hanan Ashrawi
[DEUTSCH]
bitterlemons: On a practical level, how difficult is it to
campaign in Jerusalem?
Ashrawi: I am running as part of the Third Way's national list and not in
the Jerusalem district alone. But we do have three people on the list in
Jerusalem, and it is extremely difficult to campaign there.
We decided, as an act of defiance and determination, to kick off our
campaign in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the capital and it has to be at the
heart of any kind of democratic or political process. This was a political
act of affirmation. But we were met by the Israeli police and border police,
and they physically intervened to prevent us from campaigning.
We nevertheless continued campaigning and meeting with organizations and
institutions in Jerusalem, and we will continue to do so. I feel, however,
Israel is showing real ill will toward Jerusalem, to our political
participation in Jerusalem, and that there is an Israeli agenda to undermine
Palestinian elections in Jerusalem.
bitterlemons: This, despite the statement last week that Israel will
allow elections in the city to proceed?
Ashrawi: First of all, I didn't like that the police should be able to
summon a candidate and tell him how and when. This is not a police issue or
a public order issue, this is first and foremost a political issue, and it
cannot be addressed only in terms of organizational issues or security
issues.
We are not willing to fragment the issue of Jerusalem to deal with each
component alone, i.e., first campaigning and then we'll see about voting,
freedom of movement and the general siege on the city. All these things have
to be dealt with comprehensively. This is not something that should be dealt
with by the police, but between the Israeli government and the Palestinian
Authority, in an officially binding way, so as to allow Palestinians to
participate comprehensively in free and fair elections in the Old City, in
the city itself, around the city, in the suburbs and in the villages, in a
way that will not undermine the integrity of elections.
bitterlemons: On a practical level, do you feel that Jerusalemites are
keen to participate and do they feel that by doing so they are affecting
practical issues?
Ashrawi: Unfortunately, I think there is a sense of resignation and probably
anger, even despair, among Palestinians in Jerusalem. Sometimes I have the
sense that they feel that this is an exercise in futility rather than an
exercise in democracy.
But there is also another dimension, which is the rumor campaign, a campaign
of intimidation and fear whereby people are told that [if they vote] they
will lose their residency rights, their IDs and their social rights and
hence we will lose Jerusalem.
We have to break multiple sieges. There is a territorial siege with the
settlements, a security siege at the checkpoints, a physical siege with the
wall, a political siege with elections now, and a psychological siege, i.e.,
this fear and intimidation. We have to break through all of these in order
to energize and re-invigorate the Palestinians of Jerusalem. I'm not talking
about all of them, of course, but a sizeable minority that feels either
afraid and intimidated or that the situation is hopeless. So we have to
inject hope and vigor.
At the same time, many people have assessed the record of the Palestinian
Authority and feel that the PA has done nothing or very little for
Jerusalem. And there is confusion over what the duties of the legislative
and the executive branches are; some feel the legislative should have done
more executive things. We are trying to explain during the campaign what the
powers and responsibilities of each are and how we will deal with Jerusalem.
bitterlemons: The issue of Jerusalem threatened and might still threaten
the entire elections process. How important is it that elections in
Jerusalem are part of the process? Or are the elections as a whole too
important and should go ahead anyway?
Ashrawi: Jerusalem is a non-negotiable issue when it comes to elections.
There is no such thing as partial or selective elections. Jerusalem is more
than just an obstacle or an issue for elections, or a technical, security or
police issue. Jerusalem is a political, legal and rights issue of the first
degree. Therefore no elections would have any legitimacy or credibility or
even be genuinely democratic and representative if Jerusalem were excluded
in any way or undermined.
Jerusalem is not an issue to be circumvented and I was quite amazed to hear
from Hamas and others that said they would find ways around any ban on
elections there. One must not bow to Israeli dictates. This is not
acceptable.
bitterlemons: But for a while it seemed that there were certain
interested parties who wanted these elections to be postponed and were using
Jerusalem as the excuse?
Ashrawi: Some people did, yes, and looked at Jerusalem as a pretext to
postpone elections. And there were others who said we should have elections
regardless. Our position is that Jerusalem is neither a pretext nor an
obstacle. It's a core issue. We have to intervene effectively to ensure that
Jerusalem is part of the elections?
bitterlemons: Are you confident that elections will go ahead in
Jerusalem?
Ashrawi: From experience I know there will be obstacles. The rumor campaign
will continue working overtime. The presence of police and border police
will intimidate activists. This happened last time, when they arrested
people near the polling stations in the post offices. Also there will be a
siege around Jerusalem that will make movement very difficult. We saw this
last time.
We need a lifting of restrictions on the freedom of movement, we need
non-intervention by the Israeli police, we need to increase the number of
places where Jerusalemites can vote, we need more polling stations, not
less, and we need to have a campaign to encourage Palestinians to
participate.
bitterlemons: With all these restrictions in Jerusalem, to what extent
can we talk about free and fair elections?
Ashrawi: We can't talk about free and fair elections anywhere because we are
holding elections under occupation and really as an act of defiance. We know
the elections and the outcome will be far from perfect. But flawed
elections, I guess, are better than no elections at all. And this election
needs to re-energize Palestinians, the people and the candidates, and all
the factions must act in a positive and decisive manner to ensure that the
elections are as representative and free and fair as possible We have to
stand up to all sorts of restrictions, defy obstacles and persist in order
that they have as much integrity as possible.
But we don't claim to have perfect elections, and I don't think they will
be. Already they are prejudiced. The siege against Jerusalem is prejudicial,
the restrictions on movement are prejudicial and a people voting in a state
of fear of intervention and violence and under occupation will act
differently from a free people. The results will be tainted but hopefully
not enough to undermine the legitimacy of the elections.- Published
16/1/2006 © bitterlemons.org
Hanan Ashrawi is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for
Jerusalem and is running for re-election with the Third Way list.
[DEUTSCH]
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hagalil.com 25-01-2006 |
