What you have to do if we are to permit these elections of yours

[Vic]

Arafat: no elections in PA until Israel withdraws from territories

By Amira Hass, Ha'aretz Correspondent, Ha'aretz Service and Agencies

Last update - 18:40 17/05/2002

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat told reporters Friday that elections would only be held in the West Bank and Gaza Strip once Israeli occupation had ended, but his advisers later clarified that the voting is being linked to a far more modest withdrawal demand. Palestinian sources said that elections would be held within six months, on condition that IDF troops first withdraw to positions they held before the outbreak of the intifada, some 20 months ago.

Asked Friday when elections would be held, Arafat told reporters in English: "As soon as they (the Israelis) finish this occupation from our land, according to the agreement that was supposed to be at the beginning of 1999." In 1999, Israel and the Palestinians were to have reached a final peace deal.

However, Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Sha'ath said later that the goal remained to have presidential and parliamentary elections within six months. Sha'ath said that work on putting together rosters of 1.6 million eligible voters had already begun. "But these elections need an Israeli withdrawal to the places (troops held) before September 28, 2000," Sha'ath said, referring to the day the fighting began.

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http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=164992&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0

[L@mplighterM]

Surprise !

[Morpheus]

LOL. No elections? I thought Arafat was a democratically elected leader of the Palestinian state :-)

Yep, he's not only President of the PA, but also PM, and head of his political party.

Anyway, I think he would be re-elected. The Palestinian people love him, and he gets support from Europe, the Arab league and even the US thinks of him as a good partner in peace.

[Mediocrates]

His elected support consists of 60% of the electorate who didn't stay home in an uncontested election where Arafat was already suspected of, ahem, 'eliminating' a few opponents.

All a thugocracy has to do today is claim to hold elections and then boldly kill a few opponents and keep the monitors away. The oh so civilized world will sigh, shrug their shoulders, say he's the man to deal with an go back to their cinnamon dusted lattes. No one will seriously contend with Arafat and the West is too lazy to doubt him.

BTW any student of history can tell you that ALL one party systems are fascist systems. They ALL are.

Every
Last
One

Calling it a liberation front or the people's will makes no difference. Some are less lethal than others, but that's what they are. So beat you chests and misquote Jefferson. Pass me my Starbucks and shut the **** up.

[Morpheus]

Originally posted by Mediocrates

BTW any student of history can tell you that ALL one party systems are fascist systems. They ALL are.




Fascism

a political system based on a very powerful leader, state control and extreme pride in country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed



Please make a distinction between fascism (Italy, before WWII), nazism and a totallitarian regime (like Stalinism). Any student of history will tell you that what you said can be applied for some cases, but not for all. The first fascist regime were the Romans, still, they had a two party system, even in the era of the Imperiors (optimates and populares). In nazi-Germany, Hitler only raise to power after he had won democratic elections, thus meaning there was more than one party. Lenin, not at all a fascist (or at least not in the right meaning of the word), did NOT allow any other party after the October-revolution of 1917. I don't think Arafat can be blamed for being a fascist, he's no democrat either, but he's more of a despot.

[takeo]

what a ridiculous demand to ask the retreat of foreign occupation before elections can be hold... :rolleyes:

By the way no single opponent of Arafat has been killed by the plo, it was israel during more than a year that had a state-policy of terrorism and destroyed palestinian leaders it didn't like.

By the way Arafat was never elected in a one-party system, hamas was able to participate in the elections, but refused to.
And today there are more than one party that would participate in the elections, for example the PFLP. and yes, israel promised to reach a final solution in 1999, Netanyahu however tought different...
israel is the last one to criticise the palestinian democracy, during all the years of occupation it has not organised elections or referenda over the israeli occupation.

Fascism is a system based on etnicity, nationalism and exclusion of other etnic groups, one-party system is just one caracteristic of that system.