Israelische leger probeert Palestijnse verkiezingen te beinvloeden

[Spoetnik]

Police detain candidate for PA chairman at checkpoint
By Reuters

Police detained a candidate for chairmanship of the Palestinian Authority after a scuffle with him at a West Bank checkpoint on Friday, the second such incident to mar the campaign to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat.
Witnesses said Border Police officers stopped Bassam al-Salhi, handcuffed him and took him away as he tried to cross A-Ram checkpoint into Jerusalem. Police scuffled with Salhi's aides when they tried to pull him free.

A police spokesman said Salhi, a member of the communist People's Party faction inside the Palestine Liberation Organization, did not have a permit to enter Jerusalem.

"He was detained for questioning but he has not been arrested," the spokesman said.

Palestinians want Israel to ease its clampdown in the West Bank and Gaza Strip so candidates can move freely ahead of January 9 presidential elections. Wary of Palestinian militants waging a four-year-old revolt, Israel said it would try to cooperate.

Salhi is the second of nine presidential contenders to have been detained by Israeli security forces since the start of the campaign. Both are considered long shots.

On Wednesday, independent candidate Mustafa Barghouthi said troops beat and briefly detained him at a checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Jenin. The army said Barghouthi and his entourage had refused to submit to a routine car search.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/512958.html

Het Israelische leger is duidelijk bezig om de kandidaten aan Palestijnse kant die voor onderhandelingen met Israel het leven onmogelijk te maken. Het Israelische leger is er alles aan gelegen dat de volgende leider van de Palestijnen zal doorgaan met de Intifadah. Zodra er vrede is, zal in dit land de machtsstructuren gaan veranderen. Dit land wordt bestuurd en gecontroleerd door het leger met dank aan de oorlog tegen de Arabieren. Mocht deze oorlog echter afgelopen zijn, dan is het einde in zicht van de vele tientallen miljarden die het leger opslokt.

[freya]

Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, prominent democratic candidate in the upcoming Palestinian presidential election, is tonight receiving medical care in Ramallah’s Sheikh Zayed Hospital after being beaten to the ground by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint outside Jenin.

Dr. Barghouthi was stopped at the Jaba checkpoint outside the northern West Bank city of Jenin and refused passage to return to his home city of Ramallah. After being forced from their cars at gunpoint, his group faced a barrage of abuse and random beatings. Lu’ai Arafat received several blows to the head with the butt of a rifle. As soldiers began to beat Dr. Allam Jarrar, Dr. Barghouthi stepped in to intervene and received a severe beating to his back during which he fell to the ground. The other staff were also forced to the ground and all six were made to remain face down for more than an hour.

This is the second time in a week that this presidential candidate has been prevented from traveling between towns in the West Bank. On Monday Dr. Barghouthi was held at gunpoint at a checkpoint on Al-Shuhada St. in Hebron and prevented from reaching the Palestinian neighborhood of Tel Al-Armeda. Dr. Barghouthi commented after this instance that he had experienced the worst of the humiliation and abuse Palestinians are experiencing at the 700 Israeli checkpoints within the West Bank. He urged the international community to intervene not only to enable the elections but also to immediately halt this abhorrent treatment of Palestinian civilians.

Only last month US Secretary of State Colin Powell promised Palestinians full American support for elections, and Israel made assurances that it would aid the elections by easing travel restrictions. On November 22nd Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom stated that it was in Israel’s interest to see that the Palestinian elections go forward, that “Israel will do everything in its power to ensure their smooth running,” and that Palestinians would have “freedom of movement.”

Today’s events clearly show Israel’s blatant efforts to obstruct the Palestinian democratic elections, once again demonstrating their disregard for human rights. If the presidential candidates themselves are forced to endure such violence and humiliation, it is unlikely that the remaining Palestinian population, who face these hardships on a daily basis, will be granted the necessary freedom to vote.