Corrupting the Palestinian Elections

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Only yesterday, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas was the isolated, sidelined figure — and now, with Arafat gone, he is being turned into a media hero, backed by the very people who once opposed him. Arab, local, and international media are all rushing to support him during this electoral period, striving to make him a success in the Palestinian elections. Major Arab satellite channels such as Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, LBC, and Abu Dhabi TV cover his activities and everything related to him as the Fatah movement’s candidate. Local newspapers such as Al-Quds, Al-Hayat, and Al-Ayyam open their pages to direct and indirect promotion of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas. Local television screens, Palestinian television, and Palestinian radio are no different. It is almost comical that my neighbor, a presenter at Sawt al-Najah radio, asks a university professor whether he knows of anyone who wants to run in the elections — just to avoid asking me about it on air.

The other candidates receive nothing but a few marginal lines, except occasionally for Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. The media are fashioning Mr. Abbas into a hero in the manner our people have long been accustomed to. Matters have reached the point where His Excellency President Hosni Mubarak has entered the fray in support of Abbas, as has the American Secretary of State. Various players seeking to liquidate the Palestinian cause, or to continue the path of capitulationist settlement, are throwing their full weight behind Mr. Abbas.

I am compelled to say this publicly because of the great harm being inflicted on me by the media and those behind them. I have been working myself to exhaustion and spending my own money for a long time now, preparing to put forward a program that would be an alternative to Oslo, and the media come along to spoil matters in favor of Oslo. I had hoped the media would remain neutral and let the competitors compete with honor and integrity, but it is clear that Israel and America refuse to allow that.

As for the Central Elections Commission, it stands there with its eyes shut and its ears closed. It sees, for instance, how the newspaper Al-Ayyam published photographs of the candidates on 3 December 2004, and it sees the news in Al-Quds newspaper along with a photo of Abbas praying on 4 December 2004. It sees this electoral farce and does not lift a finger.

What is required is for the Central Elections Commission to halt all procedures related to the elections, in order to put in place strict regulations that keep foreign interference away from us and guarantee the neutrality of domestic media. What is happening up to now amounts to American whims dressed up in Palestinian garb, and to a foul, contemptible fraud that would strip the Palestinian people of their free will to choose. The conspiracy is dense and frightening, but I am confident that the Palestinian people will overcome every obstacle.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “إفساد الانتخابات الفلسطينية” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.