The European Union is pursuing its contacts with Israel to allow the Palestinians to hold general elections in Jerusalem, the head of the EU mission to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday.
During a meeting in Ramallah, Burgsdorff assured Abbas that the EU supports the Palestinian elections and was continuing its “intensive contacts” with Israel to allow the vote to take place in Jerusalem, according to the PA’s official news agency, Wafa.
The meeting came amid reports that Abbas was planning to announce his decision to postpone the elections indefinitely because of Israel’s failure to respond to a PA request to hold the vote in Jerusalem.
Barring a last minute change, Abbas will make his announcement during a crucial meeting of leaders of various Palestinian factions in Ramallah on Thursday night, according to two senior Palestinian officials.
During the meeting with the head of the EU mission, Abbas did not say whether he would call off the elections.
Abbas, instead, urged the EU to continue its pressure on Israel to allow the elections to take place in Jerusalem.
“President Abbas affirmed the importance of the continuation of EU pressure on the Israeli government to hold the Palestinian elections in the occupied city of Jerusalem in accordance with the signed agreements between the two sides,” Wafa reported.
Palestinian sources claimed that faction leaders are expected to discuss a proposal that would see Jerusalem Arabs cast their ballots in EU and United Nations offices in Jerusalem. Other sources talked about the possibility of opening voting centers in mosques and churches in the city.
Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy head of Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction, said on Wednesday that excluding Jerusalem from the parliamentary and presidential elections, slated for May 22 and July, respectively, would be “a betrayal and a crime.”
Aloul told the Palestinian Mawtiny radio station that Israel has ignored requests by the EU and other parties to allow the elections to take place in Jerusalem.
“For us, Jerusalem is not only a geographical location but an essential part of our faith,” he said.
Meanwhile, several Palestinian electoral lists warned that canceling the general elections would be a “constitutional crime.”
The lists said in a joint statement that the Palestinians are entitled to hold “peaceful protests” to voice their opposition to any decision to call off the elections.
They also threatened to take the “necessary legal and judicial measures to confront any tampering with the right of the Palestinian people to participate in the political process.”
Palestinian political activists said that any decision to cancel the elections could spark widespread protests against Abbas and the PA leadership.
“If Abbas cancels the elections, this will increase the state of frustration among the Palestinians, especially the young people,” said Gaza-based political activist Ja’far Salim. “I don’t believe that the Palestinian public will allow such a decision to pass without a strong response.”
Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups said on Wednesday that they are completely opposed to the cancellation of the elections. The groups called on Abbas to honor the agreement reached with the Palestinian factions last year to hold general elections for the PA parliament and presidency.