May 12, 2004
WHOA-OH, DOMINO:
Palestinians: We'll hold first municipal elections: The Palestinian Authority decided to hold its first municipal election, and the fatal bombing of an Israeli armored vehicle in Gaza was reported. (LAURA KING, 5/11/04, Los Angeles Times Service)
The Palestinian Authority declared its intention Monday to hold its first municipal elections but said a general vote for the presidency and parliament could not be held as long as Israel keeps a military grip on Palestinian cities and towns. [...]The elections announcement was viewed as an effort to shore up the standing of the Palestinian leadership in advance of next week's meeting in Berlin of Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. national security advisor. [...]
Palestinians are sensing an opportunity to reassert influence with the Bush administration after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's conservative Likud Party overwhelmingly rejected the Israeli leader's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Sharon has said he will revise his initiative.
Palestinians fear that Sharon's plan to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza would preclude negotiations on other key points, including the borders of their hoped-for state and the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees. In his meetings with Rice and European officials, Qureia intends to express renewed support for a peace proposal known as the ''road map,'' which calls for reciprocal concessions by Israelis and Palestinians.
Qureia said he would ask the four sponsors of that proposal -- the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- to help set the stage for Palestinian general elections, but again linked prospects for a vote to an Israeli military pullback.
Pssssst, wanna influence the Amnericans? Adopt democratic reforms. Pass it on... Posted by Orrin Judd at May 12, 2004 11:14 AM
On a somewhat related note (and I know you don't like linking to other blogs, etc) but below is a link to an email from an American soldier concerning what the Sadr "phenomenom" (past, present and future) which is quite insightful. Of course, it paints a picture of the current situation that the doomsdayers will refute, but they would have to do so against facts on the ground. The email is titled by the exhortation from a soldiet under fire, to the American people at home watching CNN and reading the papers, to be brave! (Oh yes, Derek, Private England is what American youth is all about.)
http://www.nationalcenter.org/2004/05/new-e-mail-from-front-in-iraq-i-ask.html
Posted by: MG at May 12, 2004 12:04 PMEvery time the Palestinian Authority feels under pressure (military or otherwise), they're gonna yell "We're gonna democratize. We're gonna hold elections. In fact that was our intention all along, except that the Israelis have been preventing us from doing this."
Until the pressure is off.
It's a mug's game, an old game. Tried and true, it works like a charm every time.
No doubt, it's good for the soul to dream of better things, and we're better people for it....
Posted by: Barry Meislin at May 13, 2004 2:28 AM