The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has expressed its grave concern over the Israeli measures that obstruct the Palestinian legislative elections in Jerusalem, including the lack of approval so far to hold the elections in the city.
In a press release today, the Geneva-based European Rights Monitor said that the Israeli occupation authorities have taken effective measures in recent days that reflect clear intentions to impede the electoral process and thwart the participation of residents and election candidates in East Jerusalem in the electoral process that has been awaited for more than a decade. According to the Euro-Med Monitor, yesterday, Tuesday, the Israeli forces delivered summoning notices to candidates Nasser Muhammad Musa Qas and Ghada Muhammad Sami Abu Rabee ´, to go to the Israeli intelligence at the Al-Maskobiyya investigation center. She added, Israeli forces also arrested Adel Abu Zneid, director of the Fatah region office in Jerusalem, and director of the "Ambassador" Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah Sami Abu Dayya, and summoned others due to election-related activities. The Euro-Med Monitor indicated that this development came after the occupation prevented a consultative meeting about the elections, organized by civil society institutions in Jerusalem, as the Israeli forces imposed a security cordon around the place and prevented entry to the hotel. He pointed out that the occupation has not yet allowed the Palestinians in East Jerusalem to launch any official or popular activity regarding the elections, despite the approaching date of the start of the electoral campaigning on April 30th, until the polling date on May 22. He pointed out that the entire election process is threatened if Israel refuses to allow it to take place in East Jerusalem, especially in light of the official Palestinian tendencies not to complete the process without the participation of the Palestinians in Jerusalem. He stressed that the Palestinians in East Jerusalem enjoy the same legal status as the Palestinians in the rest of the West Bank and thus share with them the right to self-determination. The same statement quoted the Euro-Med Monitor Operations Officer Anas Jarjawi as saying: "The Israeli measures aimed at disrupting the Palestinian legislative elections in the city of Jerusalem fall within the policy of abolishing the Palestinian presence in the city and imposing Israeli sovereignty over it, in contravention of international laws and United Nations resolutions. Related". He added, "In the past two years only, Israel has held 4 (Knesset) elections, while it is now trying to prevent or disrupt the Palestinians from engaging in the democratic process they have been waiting for for more than a decade." The Israeli occupation has previously targeted the deputies of the current Palestinian Legislative Council (Parliament) with arrest and summons. Since 2006, it has arrested about 60 deputies from the West Bank and Jerusalem regions, 7 of whom are still in detention to this day. The Euro-Med Monitor stated that the European Union has, over the past years, contributed to supporting and financing the work of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission in order to prepare for the holding of comprehensive, credible and transparent elections, stressing the need for the Union to intervene to pressure Israel to allow the elections to take place in Jerusalem, and to stop any procedure that would lead to the holding of elections in Jerusalem. Disable or cancel it. In this context, the Euro-Med Monitor called on the international community to "exert all possible pressure on the Israeli occupation, to ensure that Palestinian legislative elections are held in all occupied territories, and to protect the Palestinians´ right to political participation and self-determination without any restrictions or obstacles." According to a previous presidential decree, Palestinian elections will take place in 3 stages this year, legislative (parliamentary) on May 22, presidential on July 31, and elections to the National Council on August 31.
