Comments on: PLO committee agrees to push for landmark elections

By: sh

sh — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:44:45 +0000

As far as participation in elections is concerned, what’s the story for Palestinians with Israeli citizenship?

By: sh

sh — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:37:26 +0000

@Warren Metzler – “All country allow citizens to vote from any where in the world.”
They don’t. A few examples: British subject’s right to vote expires after 15 years abroad, Ireland doesn’t allow expat voting, India doesn’t, nor does South Africa. Come to think of it, last time I checked Israel didn’t either. There was a proposal to change this a few years ago, but I don’t think it passed.

By: Ayyosha

Ayyosha — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:27:41 +0000

@Steve: same applies to the other side…

By: Piotr Berman

Piotr Berman — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 16:13:38 +0000

“And why cannot someone run from Israeli prison?”

They can be elected, but later there are problem with parliamentary quorums etc.

Of course, some Palestinian group could learn to look and speak like militant settlers, walk into a military post (shouting and throwing stones to be less suspicious) and take over. Then PLO could negotiate exchange of prisoners.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:32:44 +0000

Permanent peace will never come until the Palestinian leadership (with support from the Palestinian majority) seek a permanent peace with Israel and stop trying to erase Israel’s existence (via one-state “solutions,” fake rights of return, violent means, etc).

By: Warren Metzler

Warren Metzler — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:04:31 +0000

This is excellent news. Because out of elections, you can get a representative government. And once you have a representative government, then you can have a government that functions in terms of the people’s needs; including security forces that are not draconian pushing the agenda of a few elite, and providing real justice in the Palestinian run territories. Plus an central organizing force for non-violent demonstrations against the Israeli government, and rational discussions with the Israeli government, and appeals to the rest of the world. And why can’t someone run from Israeli prison’s?

Jazzy, I can’t tell if you are just a trouble maker, or unaware. Most Jews outside Israel never lived in Israel. Most Palestinians outside Palestine would live there if they could, but were chased out by the Israeli security forces; and so are bonafide citizens of Palestine. All country allow citizens to vote from any where in the world.

By: Palestinian

Palestinian — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 20:54:39 +0000

@ Richard , I agree but without giving up our right of return.

By: Jazzy

Jazzy — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 20:10:04 +0000

“…including Palestinians everywhere, not merely in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”
oooooooo, ominous – your determined opposition to the Zionists’ divide-and-conquer strategy is so persistent, what will they do? I guess they’ll just follow your example and let American Jews vote in Israeli elections. Because democracy usually means roping in non-residents to vote for people who’ll have no authority where the non-resident voters actually live.

By: aristeides

aristeides — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 17:14:32 +0000

It seems rather a farce to hold new elections when so many of the persons elected the last time are in Israeli prisons. Does Israel need more prisoners?

By: Richard Witty

Richard Witty — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 16:58:15 +0000

A difficult development for political integrity.

The reason that I say that is that it dilutes the argument around Israel that it should be a state of all its people, in declaring that the geographic jurisdiction is NOT the appropriate basis of authoritative governance.

I appreciate the concerns of Palestinian diaspora, refugees and those residing in other parts of the Arab world, Europe and the US.

Hopefully, the political goal of 67 borders Palestine will remain on the table, and that subsequent governance will be limited to a Palestinian state of all its people, geographically defined (including minorities, but excluding non-citizens).