PRESS CONFERENCE
Demanding Free Movement for
Presidential Candidates within 36 Hours
Dr. Mustafa
Barghouthi
8 December 2004
SUMMARY:
Palestinian Presidential candidate Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi confirmed
today that Israel’s official policy seems to be one of tampering
with elections results, possibly undermining their legitimacy, by
putting serious obstacles in the way of most Presidential candidates
and making no arrangements for East Jerusalemites to vote.
These actions have been taken despite public declarations by the
Israeli government that they would cooperate as fully as possible to
make the elections free, fair, and comprehensive.
If these problems are not solved within 36 hours, Palestinian
citizens, led by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, will strongly protest and
begin major peaceful demonstrations. The Palestinians will not let
these violations of their democratic rights stand.
FULL TEXT:
At a press conference at the Palestine Media Center in Al-Bireh,
West Bank, Presidential candidate Dr. Barghouthi stated that the
upcoming elections in Palestine are critical and historical because
they can prove to the world that Palestinians deserve their own
state and can support true multi-party democracy with viable
opposition candidates. If successful, these elections can inspire
other nations in the region to do the same.
However, only one Presidential candidate, Abu Mazen, has been given
accommodation and permission to move freely within and between the
West Bank and Gaza. Dr. Barghouthi and all other Presidential
candidates have been prevented from entering the Gaza Strip and many
areas of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Dr. Barghouthi entered East Jerusalem without an Israeli permit when
he declared his presidential candidacy on 29 November in order to
confirm that decisions regarding Palestine can and must be made by
the Palestinian people, and that East Jerusalem is the capital of
the Palestinian people.
But on December 6, Israeli occupation forces prevented him from
visiting a Palestinian neighborhood in the Old Town of Hebron. They
stopped him at a checkpoint and said that he could not pass. He
explained to them that he was a Presidential candidate and asked
them to contact their superiors. The Israeli soldiers left him for
one hour before they returned with the verdict: he was just a
regular Palestinian citizen, and he could not pass.
Dr. Barghouthi took this as evidence that the restrictions on
movement of all Palestinian Presidential candidates except Abu Mazen
is a policy of Israel rather than isolated cases of
miscommunication.
Dr. Barghouthi attempted to pass the checkpoint peacefully, but
several Israeli soldiers pointed guns at his chest and forced him to
leave.
Israeli soldiers also delayed him at a checkpoint near Biddya
village, Salfit region, for over an hour. If acts like these
continue, they will undermine the democratic election process and
possibly affect the results of what could be a very close race. Dr.
Barghouthi said that free movement should be a protected right not
only of candidates but also of all Palestinian people, including
constituents, supporters, and campaign staff.
He said that the Palestinian people are strong and will continue the
campaign to the end and resist all Israeli restrictions and
violations.
The second major problem is that there have been no guarantees that
Palestinians from East Jerusalem will be allowed to participate in
the elections. Registration centers have been closed down, their
staff have been intimidated, and no voting centers have been set up
or planned. Even if voting centers are opened in East Jerusalem,
there have been no guarantees that voters will not be harassed or
intimidated if they attempt to vote.
The Central Elections Commission, which has declared that is has not
been provided with the means to plan elections in East Jerusalem due
to Israeli activities, must be absolutely clear about its intentions
for East Jerusalem and must make concrete plans and actions to
guarantee these citizens their right to vote.
If freedom of movement and concrete plans for voters’ rights in East
Jerusalem are not instated within 36 hours, Dr. Barghouthi said that
major demonstrations and protests are planned.
These issues were discussed in Dr. Barghouthi’s recent meetings with
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Spanish Foreign Minister
Miguel Moratinos, and UN Middle East envoy Terry Larson.
Dr. Barghouthi also said it was strange and unacceptable that some
outside parties have tried to influence the results of the election
by acting as if the elections have already taken place and the
results are already known. Such actions are clearly not conducive to
a democratic process.
He said that Palestinians have never interfered in the elections of
other countries, and Palestinians expect others not to interfere
with theirs. On the 9th of January, the Palestinian people and the
Palestinian people alone will decide who their next President will
be.
Dr. Barghouthi announced that he has left all of his other
obligations and official positions to focus only on the elections.
He called for all other candidates to do the same and to avoid any
conflicts of interest.
