Israel disrupts Palestinian election campaign

Israeli police have conducted a campaign of harrassment against Palestinian activists working for political parties in the run-up to the Palestinian parliamentary elections set for Jan. 25. Six Palestinians were arrested on Jan. 11 for hanging campaign posters on billboards in East Jerusalem. Police fined the activists and released them on the condition that they refrain from campaigning in East Jerusalem or hanging campaign material in the streets. The police and Jerusalem municipality intend to bring charges against the activists for engaging in forbidden campaigning and "spoiling land." They also will impose a fine on the candidates–mostly independent ones–whose portraits were on the placards. In addition to the arrests, Israeli authorities have arrested, detained and in some cases beaten candidates from East Jerusalem in recent weeks. Candidates have also said that their campaign posters have been frequently ripped down by Israeli forces. Police also arrested Sheikh Mohammed Abu Tir on Jan. 15, the number two man on the Hamas campaign list, and two other candidates when they tried to hold a press conference near the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem. Two organizers were also detained. Following the arrests, Israel announced that Hamas would be barred from campaigning in East Jerusalem. Government officials insisted Hamas would have to disarm and stop suicide bombings if it wanted its democratic goals to be taken seriously. Ghassan Hatib, the Palestinian Authority planning minister, protested that the ban on Hamas played into opposition hands. "This is worse than preventing everybody from campaigning," he said. "This will only increase public sympathy for Hamas." Despite warnings by both the US and the EU that they would cut aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas joined the government, a Jan. 11 poll showed the Islamic movement closing in on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party. Fatah won 35 percent support compared to 31 percent for Hamas, said Nader Said, who conducted the poll for Bir Zeit University in the West Bank. In a Bir Zeit poll last month, Fatah won 36.7 percent, compared to 20.6 percent for Hamas. Israeli police have yet to reach an agreement with the Palestinian Authority on the subject of election campaigning in Jerusalem for other parties, despite the fact that the Palestinian campaign season began on Jan. 2.