The main political movements in Palestine take to the streets and vamp up their image ahead of national elections, reports Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank In the run-up to the Palestinian legislative elections, scheduled for 25 January, Palestinian parties and factions, as well as hundreds of independent candidates contesting the polls, are striving to sell themselves to the Palestinian public, considered one of the most politically-savvy in the Arab world. So far, the election campaign has been nearly completely free of violence, with the main parties avoiding vociferous recriminations and maintaining a generally civilised discourse. This, however, doesn't mean that the various contenders are leaving anything to chance. Indeed, Hamas and Fatah as well as a number of other centrist and left parties are effecting a very expensive campaign, spending a fortune on luxurious, colourful billboards and advertisements throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Fatah and other nationalist and secular factions have benefited from EU grants amounting to several million dollars. Hamas is relying on its own financial resources, the bulk of which come from wealthy Islamist donors at home and abroad. Hamas, running on a platform of "Change and reform" is accentuating its image as a corruption-free movement that would resist Israeli blackmailing and bullying tactics. Fatah, on the other hand, is running under the jingle "Fatah: the protector of the national cause." The movement is reminding voters that it, not Hamas, has been at the forefront of Palestinian national struggle from mid-1965. This notwithstanding, the electoral platforms of nearly all factions and candidates, irrespective of their ideological and political orientations, are strikingly similar. All main contenders invariably assert their commitment to ending the Israeli military occupation that began in 1967 and creating a viable Palestinian state on 100 per cent of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. Similarly, the main parties have also highlighted their commitment to solving the Palestinian refugee plight in accordance with UN Resolution 194, which calls for the repatriation and indemnification of refugees who either fled or were expelled at gunpoint from their homes in what is now Israel in 1948. It is widely believed that this striking similarity in the contenders' platforms will cause a wide dispersion of votes, which could militate against Fatah, the largest Palestinian political movement. The dispersion could be particularly marked as there are dozens of erstwhile Fatah leaders who are running as independents in the upcoming elections, even though many are unlikely to make it to parliament. Meanwhile, Hamas has reacted angrily to American pressure on the Palestinian Authority (PA) to keep the movement away from government in case the Islamic resistance group emerges as the main winner in the elections. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was quoted on Monday as saying that the inclusion of Hamas into the Palestinian government would undermine the prospect of Palestinian statehood and might lead to the severance of American financial aid to the Palestinians. "Let Rice mind her own business. Palestinian elections are an internal Palestinian matter. We don't interfere in American elections, and we will not accept American or foreign interference in our elections," said Nayef Rajoub, considered as one of the strongest Islamist candidates in the West Bank. Rajoub lambasted the American "factor" in the Palestinian-Israeli equation, saying, "America has been the protector, guarantor, sustainer and enabler of Israeli oppression and occupation." He added: "We can do without the American money, we don't expect any good from a country that for many decades embraced, and continues to embrace, Jewish occupation of our homeland and the systematic persecution of our people." The PA and Fatah leaderships have also ignored Rice's declarations, saying the elections are an internal Palestinian affair. According to latest opinion surveys in the West Bank, Nayef Rajoub (brother of PA Security Chief Jebril Rajoub) is expected to score the highest vote in the Hebron region, the largest electoral district in the occupied Palestinian territories. And overall, as election day draws near, Hamas continues to rise in the polls. On Saturday, 14 January, an opinion poll conducted by Birzeit University showed that the gap between Hamas and Fatah was being bridged, with Hamas receiving as much as 30 per cent of the support recorded while Fatah dwindled form nearly 43 per cent last month to 35 per cent now. The poll also revealed that a significant number of "undecided" voters would likely vote for Hamas, though they were reluctant to say so publicly. Hamas leaders seem to be responding carefully and responsibly to the elevated status of their movement, still considered "a terrorist group" by the United States and European Union. Hamas's top man in Gaza, Ismael Haniyeh, has sought to dispel fears that Hamas in government would fire thousands of security personnel in light of grudges dating back to the Oslo Agreement era (1994- 2000). "We don't deal with our people in this way; we will not fire anybody and we will not seek to harm anybody. Our example is always the Prophet Mohamed, who behaved charitably towards those who sought to hurt him," Haniyeh said. Meanwhile, Israel, under American and European pressure, has decided to allow East Jerusalemites to take part in the upcoming elections and for leaders to conduct minimal and heavily restricted campaigning. The decision, however, excluded candidates and supporters of Hamas on grounds that the movement is a "terrorist group" (Israel views every act of political or military resistance to its 38-year-old military occupation as "terror"). Indeed, on the day the decision was adopted by the Israeli government (now headed by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert), Israeli police and security arrested four Hamas candidates and six aides on charges of "affiliation with an illegal movement". The arrests came as the men were about to hold a public meeting outside Al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city of Jerusalem. One of the detainees was Mohamed Abu Tir, a man who spent more than 20 years in Israeli jails for "political resistance" to and "incitement" against the Israeli occupation. Abu Tir was released Monday night, along with seven of the others. The other two remained locked up in the Russian Compound detention centre in Jerusalem. Interestingly, Abu Tir -- who occupies the second slate on Hamas's national list -- told reporters earlier this week that Hamas would not say "never" to negotiations with Israel. Palestinian and some Israeli sources interpreted his brief arrest as an expression of nervous Israeli reflexes resulting from the prospects of Hamas moderating its overall posture and regaining international, especially European, recognition. Israel, the sources argued, would lose a valuable propaganda asset if Hamas reigned in its political outlook, in which case international pressure would mount on Israel to end its occupation and colonisation of the Palestinian territories. Earlier, a number of Hamas leaders in Palestine and abroad hinted that Hamas would display more political responsibility once in parliament, and especially if it joined the Palestinian government. A posture of moderation is reportedly being encouraged by at least one European power -- France. According to insiders within Hamas, French diplomats have intimated to Hamas that France would not sever economic and financial aid to the PA even if Hamas joined the government. The diplomats, according to Hamas sources, told the Hamas leadership that France didn't agree with statements made a few weeks ago by EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, warning that EU aid to Palestinians could be frozen if Hamas was allowed to join the PA leadership.
