Israel halts campaigning in east Jerusalem

Holding a press conference under a portrait of Hamas' assassinated leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi, Ismail Haniya (R) addresses the crowd as he is surrounded by fellow senior members of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas during the launching of their electoral campaign in Gaza city yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Mustapha Barghuti, runner-up in January's presidential election, and the former peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi were both attempting to defy a ban on any election activity in the eastern half of the city which was occupied and then annexed by Israel after the 1967 Six Day War.

Barghuti's office said the rights activist had been arrested while on a walkabout in the Arab quarter of the walled Old City while Ashrawi, who is a resident of east Jerusalem, was ordered to stop canvassing in the same area.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has already said he will cancel the election scheduled for January 25 unless residents of east Jerusalem can join the democratic process, a threat repeated by his prime minister Ahmed Qorei.

The Islamist movement Hamas however warned against any such move, denying there was any agreement with Abbas's Fatah faction for a postponement without voting in east Jerusalem.

Barghuti's office said the candidate had been "meeting with ordinary Jerusalemites near Damascus Gate, discussing their needs and the situation of Palestinians in east Jerusalem."

"He was approached by six undercover Israeli security agents, arrested, and taken to the Russian Compound jail where he remains under detention," said a statement.

Although there was no immediate comment from the police, as a resident of the West Bank, Barghuti would have been automatically liable for arrest unless he had prior authorisation to be in the city.

Ashrawi escaped being detained but only after police had forced her to stop displaying a banner for the Third Way, a line-up of independent candidates which also includes the outgoing finance minister Salam Fayad.

"All we did was explain our platform to the Palestinians in east Jerusalem," said Ashrawi.

"It is our right to explain our platform to our constituents. There is no reason to intervene forcibly and take down our banners."

Shortly before police intervened, Ashrawi had told reporters that she had decided to launch her campaign in Jerusalem "because it is the capital of Palestine and an occupied city."

Reacting to the arrests, Qorei reiterated his assertion that "the elections will not take place without Jerusalem".

"Jerusalem is an occupied city and all the candidates should be able to campaign there freely," he said.

"They (Israel) should not only allow the people of Jerusalem to cast their ballots but also authorise candidates to campaign unhindered," added the premier who is not standing for re-election.

In an interview on Monday, Abbas said that "if (east Jerusalem) is not included, (Palestinian) factions are unanimous that there will be no election."

Ismail Haniya, who heads the list of Hamas candidates, however denied there was any such agreement.

"We do not believe that postponing the election should be the solution," Haniya said at Hamas's campaign launch in Gaza.

The participation of Hamas, responsible for the majority of anti-Israeli attacks in the last five years, was one of the reasons cited by Israel when it initially announced it would not allow voting in east Jerusalem.

Residents had been allowed residents to cast their ballots in post offices in the last parliamentary election a decade as well as in the January presidential election.

Senior Israeli foreign ministry official Gideon Meir said that a final decision on east Jerusalem was still awaited.

"Discussions are ongoing but no decision has been made yet," Meir told AFP.

"However, we can say categorically that a terrorist organisation such as Hamas should not take part in the elections as it calls for the elimination of the state of Israel and orders the murder of our nationals."