PA President Mahmoud Abbas: No Palestinian elections without Jerusalem

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Abbas, who was speaking during a meeting of the Fatah Central Committee in Ramallah, the faction’s highest decision-making body, said that the residents of east Jerusalem should be allowed to run as candidates, cast their ballots and hold election gatherings in the city.

Abbas’s remarks came amid increased reports that he may delay or even cancel the parliamentary and presidential elections, slated for May 22 and July 31 respectively.

In a statement after the meeting, the Fatah committee said that there would be no elections without Jerusalem.

“The elections should take place in Jerusalem, our eternal capital, and its people should be allowed to present their candidacy, vote and hold electoral campaigns,” the statement read. “Failing to hold the elections in Jerusalem means returning to the Deal of the Century (former US president Donald Trump’s plan for Mideast peace).”

Abbas is scheduled to call a meeting of leaders of several Palestinian factions soon to discuss the crisis surrounding the inclusion of Jerusalem’s Arabs in the elections.

Palestinian sources said that they did not rule out the possibility that Abbas would announce the postponement or cancellation of the elections and blame Israel for not allowing the vote to take place in Jerusalem.

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“Jerusalem is a red line,” Abbas said during the Fatah meeting. “We won’t allow anyone to harm it.”

He praised the residents of east Jerusalem for their “steadfastness in the face of Israeli schemes aiming to control the holy city.” He was referring to the violence that erupted in Jerusalem in the past two weeks, during which dozens of youths clashed with the police and assaulted a number of Jewish civilians.

Abbas called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to adhere to the signed agreements between the Palestinians and Israel, which allow the Jerusalem Arabs who hold Israeli-issued ID cards (but are not Israeli citizens) to participate in Palestinian elections.

Abbas also stressed the importance of pursuing efforts with the Quartet members – US, European Union, United Nations, and Russia – and other parties to launch a political process with Israel based on the two-state solution.