Yellow Dog

In a recent English language ad aired in the Occupied Territories, Richard Gere addresses the Palestinian people:

"Hi, I'm Richard Gere and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important. Get out and vote,"

He repeats the last phrase in Arabic. Good for him.

Palestinians do not seem impressed, though. "I don't even know who the candidates are other than Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), let alone this Gere," Gaza soap factory worker Manar an-Najar told Reuters Wednesday. "We don't need the Americans' intervention. We know who to elect. Not like them—they elected a moron." Good for him.

But whether it is said in Arabic or English, what does it mean to "Get out and vote"?

In a move toward a democratic government, the Palestinian Legislative Council created in 1996 was supposed to be a separately elected legislative branch and to serve as a check and balance to the executive branch within the Palestinian Authority, but the U.S.-picked successor to Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, who by all accounts is a kind and smart man, has never really been interested in democracy or giving voice to oppositional voices in the PLC. In this, the Palestinian Authority has played right into the hands of the Israeli government. Many of the best people running for PLC election weren't even permitted to travel between the West Bank and Gaza because of Israeli "closures," and those who were elected required Israeli travel permits to move between the territories. These permits were valid for one week at a time, from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., so that Council members living in Gaza would miss evening sessions, while also frequently forced to wait for hours (for no reason except to demonstrate Israeli superiority and power) at Israeli checkpoints. And when these very closures suffocated Gazans to the point where families that relied on income from work in Israel were at the point of starvation, when sewage ran in the streets and with no electricity, while on the hills above settlement houses were lit up and had clean running water, and when Israel's "civil administration" was taxing Palestinian day-workers illegally for work that Israeli construction companies would not report, that's when Hamas membership started to intensify. It goes something like this: Israel would systematically create the impossible conditions that would encourage Palestinians (the vast majority of whom do not support or seek an Islamic state) to join Hamas; then Israel would crack down on the Palestinian Authority to capture Hamas leaders; then the PA would use illegal means to imprison Hamas members, which would in turn make Hamas stronger; then Israel would declare that the PA and Arafat were unacceptable "peace partners" because they supported terror, and are incapable of democracy.

YDB Guest Blogger: Spence, Yellow-Dog Pal