Elections in Palestine are meaningless

The elections which are due to take place at the start of October in the Palestinian territories are meaningless. There is no need for these elections because they are taking place between two sides for which these elections hold absolutely no meaning, no flavour or significance. On the contrary, running these elections is nothing more than a distraction and an attempt to steer the Palestinian compass of course.

There are two factors that render these elections completely absurd. The first is the presence of the occupation and its continuance. There is no need for local elections when the Israeli military occupation is currently engaged in destroying people, trees and even stones on Palestinian lands. Moreover, the governing power behind this occupation is obligated to provide the Palestinian people with basic domestic services under international law and though they are placing the Palestinians under a fait accompli and under a military rule enforced by tanks and jets, the Palestinians must first unite and fight to bring an end to the occupation, until this goal is achieved, they must demand that the Israeli government provide them with the necessary services that are required under international law.

Furthermore, the more important question with regards to the organisation of elections under military occupation is that the latter party uses coercive force to interfere in and interrupt the democratic experiment. This occurs in the sense that Israel arrests the candidate that it does not want to win the elections. This is what happened a mere few days ago when Israel arrested a Hamas-affiliated politician, Hussein Abu Kwaik, which means that in the end, elections under a military occupation are often distorted.

The second factor that makes these elections pointless is the on-going Palestinian national division and the continued state of fragmentation between the West Bank and Gaza, between Fatah and Hamas and between one half of the Palestinian people and the other half. More attention should be focused on ending these divisions and restoring national unity. Greater focus should be placed on organising legislative, presidential and local town elections in an effort to restore order and bring the Palestinian Authority back on track.

When it comes to the current Palestinian situation, the priority should be placed on ending national division first and foremost, then the fight to end the Israeli occupation, because the establishment of a normal and true Palestinian state for a Palestinian people cannot be possible without achieving these two essential goals. More importantly, achieving Palestinian unity and ending the Israeli occupation are the two most crucial points for Palestinians at this time. Everything else is of lesser importance. There is no point trying to improve the decisions emanating from the Israeli occupation and there is also no point trying to better the living conditions of the people living under Israeli occupation because their lives will only improve after the occupation ends and not otherwise.

In the context of speaking about the local elections in Palestine, it is important to note that these factions (Fatah and Hamas) are converting the energy that should be used on the path to liberation to focus entirely on these elections. The following applies to both Fatah and Hamas together: they should work on ending the Israeli occupation together and subsequently hold both presidential and local elections. They should now focus their energy on demanding that the occupation forces provide basic services, lift checkpoints, grant work permits and facilitate road blocks because these things will end with the end of the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Translated from Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 23 August 2016.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.