Palestinian Authority holdihng sham elections

Stephen Lendman: Longtime Israeli collaborators Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad scheduled West Bank municipal elections on October 20, 2012. Democracy isn't on the ballot. Palestinians are skeptical for good reason.

For the first time since January 25, 2006, they'll vote in an election much different from then. Fed up with institutionalized Fatah corruption and subservience to Israel, Hamas candidates swept to victory.

They won 74 of the Palestinian Legislative Council's (PLC) 132 seats. Hamas became Palestine's legitimate government. It remains so despite Fatah's complicity with Israel. Doing so separated West Bank authority from Gaza.

Ismail Haniyeh is Palestine's prime minister. Fayyad's PM appointment lacks legitimacy. He represents lawless coup d'etat authority. Abbas' term as president expired in January 2009. He remains in office illegally.

Palestinians suffer because of their allegiance to Israel and Washington, not them. Elections this month assure continuity, not democratic change.

On October 10, the Los Angeles Times headlined "Palestinian voters skeptical about value of elections."

Hebron (al-Khalil) City Council aspirant Maysoun Qawasmi expressed popular frustration, saying:

"We are seeing the same people running, and they aren't offering anything new. Voters are looking for independent voices."

In fact, they want officials representing them, not Israel. Abbas and Fayyad won't tolerate them. Everything is arranged for Fatah candidates to win. "They always win," said Qawasmi. "And nothing ever changes."

One Palestinian perhaps spoke for others, saying:

"I don't understand how we can have elections in just half the territory. I don't even know who's running."

Given a rigged process, Hamas opted out. Doing so got Abbas/Fayyad to hold elections they might have cancelled otherwise, knowing they might lose. They tolerate no opposition.

They crack down hard against challengers. They mock democratic freedoms. They represent despot authority. They're complicit Israeli puppet stooges.

They dismissed about 50 Fatah members wanting to run as independents. Prominent former Nablus Mayor Ghassan Shaka'a was bumped illegitimately.

Other PLO candidates running independently were denied funding. They include candidates representing the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and People's (Communist) Party.