The absence of support weakens the confidence of Jerusalemites to participate in the coming elections

Jerusalem24 – Hala Al-Zuhairi -The Palestinian leadership affirms that the upcoming elections will not take place without occupied Jerusalem, while it has not yet received an Israeli response to the Authority’s request in this regard,  and analysts expected an Israeli position to be issued after the Knesset elections that are taking place today, Tuesday.

The Israeli occupation authorities reject any sovereign appearance of the Palestinians in the occupied city, but they have not yet disclosed their position regarding holding the elections there. Experts believe that “Israel” will not allow elections to take place in order to establish facts on the ground and impose sovereignty.

Fakhri Abu Diab, a researcher on Jerusalem affairs, told Jerusalem24 that holding the elections with or without Israeli approval would empty the process of its content. He pointed out that the absence of polling stations inside Jerusalem implies that the city is not the capital of the Palestinian state and agrees to separate it. In his He expects a reluctance of participation from Jerusalemites, Abu Diab considered that this approach is justified, basically because of the absence of the official institutions and its remoteness from the Jerusalemites.

He said that people in Jerusalem need to feel their presence in a different way, and their experience in the absence of real programs that support their steadfastness is the reason behind these expectations, adding that they need guarantees in which a Jerusalemite can decide what he wants himself without pressure and in a way that supports his steadfastness on the ground.

The Election Commission confirms the participation of Jerusalemites in the elections

For his part, the Executive Director of the Central Elections Commission, Hisham Kahil, stressed the existence of a Palestinian agreement that asserted on the necessity for the residents of occupied Jerusalem to participate in the upcoming elections.

Kahil said in a press statement: “The Palestinian factions agreed in the second meeting in Cairo on (16-17) this March that elections should be held in the holy city, as in the previous elections, and therefore all efforts are directed towards that.” He stated that the participation of Jerusalemites will be the same as in the previous elections in 2006, explaining: “The committee does not open centers for it in Jerusalem because of the occupation’s prohibition of it, and yet we consider every Jerusalemite registered, whether for the purpose of election or candidacy, and therefore his or her name is included in the lists.”

He stated that the committee registers Jerusalemites who vote in six postal centers inside Jerusalem, while the rest of Jerusalemites can go to 15 centers in the vicinity city to register and vote on the same day, and this does not affect the electoral process.

The Election Commission affirmed the right of Jerusalemite citizens to run and vote in the 2021 Palestinian elections.

The census of the Palestinian population in the world until the beginning of the year 2021 indicates that their number reached 13.7 million, including 417 thousand people in occupied Jerusalem.

According to the Election Commission, 118,000 citizens are entitled to vote in occupied Jerusalem.