Jailed leader may stand for president

[Englander]

Ewen MacAskill in Ramallah
Saturday November 13, 2004
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1350443,00.html

The Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is planning to stand for election for the presidency from his Israeli prison cell, according to his supporters.

"If there is an election, he intends to run like every other Palestinian leader and he would stand a good chance since he is so popular," the close supporter said

If he won, it would represent a powerful propaganda coup: the elected leader of the Palestinians kept in an Israeli jail. His supporters hope that such a victory could act as a lever for his release but an Israeli government official said this week it will not free a man serving five life sentences for organising attacks on Israelis.

Mr Barghouti, 45, was one of the leaders in the West Bank of Fatah, the secular fighting and political organisation and the dominant force in Palestinian life, during the first 18 months of the uprising until arrested by the Israelis when they occupied Ramallah in 2002. He is held in isolation in Beersheva.

[cantwealljustgetalong]

1. nope...

Fatah sources: Barghouti will sit out elections for PA chair

Fatah officials believe Marwan Barghouti, a West Bank leader of the mainstream PLO movement currently serving life imprisonment in Israel for ordering and funding terror killings, will refrain from entering the race to succeed Yasser Arafat as permanent chairman of the Palestinian Authority in elections planned for January.

The Fatah central committee on Sunday named former Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas as its candidate for the chairmanship.

Since the first reports on Yasser Arafat's deteriorating health, speculation has been rife regarding Barghouti's reported intention to present himself as a candidate. Public opinion polls have shown Barghouti's popularity second only to that of the late PA chairman Yasser Arafat among the Palestinian public.

But sources in Fatah said over the weekend that Barghouti, effective commander of the Fatah's Tanzim armed group, would not challenge the present veteran PA leadership by putting himself forward as a candidate to succeed Arafat.

Other than Abbas, there is currently no candidate with widespread support within the party, and no such candidate is likely to emerge in the short time before the campaign begins.

Abbas is almost certain to win the vote; Hamas is unlikely to field a candidate, since the chairman's position was created by the Oslo Accords, which Hamas does not recognize.

...

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/501159.html

[cantwealljustgetalong]

2. yet, none other than James Baker...

calls for Barghouthi to be released...

interesting...

[newyorican]

3. Is that a FATAH source you are touting??

From the school of believe what you want, when you want...

[cantwealljustgetalong]

4. Fatah Schmatah...

I was not touting, I was imparting, and at least I am not projecting...

[newyorican]

5. "Nope..."

from the school of, 'damn that one hour limit on editing...'

FYI is "imparting", "Nope..." is hook, line & sinker...

but at least I'm not molting... :shrug:

[Englander]

6. Barghouti to Seek Palestinian Presidency

Thursday November 25, 2004 4:01 PM

JERUSALEM (AP) - Jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouti will seek the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, a top official in the ruling Fatah movement said Thursday.

The decision reshuffles the Palestinian political landscape in the run-up to the Jan. 9 elections. Barghouti, jailed by Israel for involvement in terrorism, is widely considered to be the most electable Palestinian candidate.

Barghouti has informed Fatah leaders through his lawyers that he will compete in the presidential election, said Amin Maqboul, the secretary general of the Fatah Higher Committee, one of Fatah's key institutions.

Barghouti's candidacy would deepen an internal power struggle within Arafat's dominant Fatah movement. Fatah's old guard earlier this week nominated interim leader Mahmoud Abbas as the movement's presidential candidate.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4637295,00.html

[cantwealljustgetalong]

8. nope...

Barghouti decides not to run in PA election...

Nov. 25, 2004 16:28 | Updated Nov. 26, 2004 22:05

Imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti has decided Friday night not to run in the election for the chairmanship of the Palestinian Authority.

Barghouti called on Fatah activists to support the faction's candidate, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), in the election, slated for January 9.

Barghouti's announcement was read by PA cabinet minister Kadoura Fares at a press conference in Ramallah on Friday night. Fares visited Barghouti in prison earlier in the day and asked him not to present his candidacy to avoid a split in the ruling Fatah faction.

...

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1101356021527

[Nicky Scarfo]

7. If he does, and the elections are handled fairly, he will likely win.

He'll become the PLO's Nelson Mandela.

[cantwealljustgetalong]

9. isn't it...

romantic...

[UnknownMan]

10. he wont run

[Scurrilous]

11. FYI...

Jailed leader will seek Palestinian presidency

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/01/barghouti/

<snip>

"From an Israeli prison, popular Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti reversed his decision Wednesday about seeking elected office and submitted his name to become a candidate to succeed the late Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

An official with the Fatah movement, the largest party in the Palestinian Authority, said Barghouti submitted 5,000 signatures and $3,000 to the Palestinian Authority Election Commission to qualify as an independent candidate in the January 9 election.

Barghouti's candidacy could create major problems for former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, who is the Fatah movement's presidential candidate.

Barghouti has repeatedly ranked second only to Arafat in popularity polls. The jailed leader's candidacy threatens to split Fatah."

[newyorican]

12. As I said, hook, line and sinker...

:shrug:

My oh my, who to demonize?

[QueerJustice]

13. kinda like...

if Saddam Hussein should be allowed to run in Iraq,or Bin Laden in the USA(or anywhere for that matter)

[Englander]

14. Or Emperor Ming on the planet Mongo.......

maybe in your reality,dude.

Meanwhile,on planet Earth;

deValera in Eire,or Mandela in South Africa.

[QueerJustice]

15. Mandela

---was fighting an Evil regime...

THERE IS NO COMPARASIN..nada zich zero nothing...

[Englander]

16. From the archives; Tutu condemns Israeli 'apartheid'

Monday, 29 April, 2002, 11:55 GMT 12:55 UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1957644.stm

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has accused Israel of practising apartheid in its policies towards the Palestinians.

The Nobel peace laureate said he was "very deeply distressed" by a visit to the Holy Land, adding that "it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa".

In a speech in the United States, carried in the UK's Guardian newspaper, Archbishop Tutu said he saw "the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about".

The archbishop, who was a leading opponent of apartheid in South Africa, said Israel would "never get true security and safety through oppressing another people".


From the Guardian;

Apartheid in the Holy Land

Desmond Tutu
Monday April 29, 2002
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,706911,00.html

n our struggle against apartheid, the great supporters were Jewish people. They almost instinctively had to be on the side of the disenfranchised, of the voiceless ones, fighting injustice, oppression and evil. I have continued to feel strongly with the Jews. I am patron of a Holocaust centre in South Africa. I believe Israel has a right to secure borders.

What is not so understandable, not justified, is what it did to another people to guarantee its existence. I've been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about.

On one of my visits to the Holy Land I drove to a church with the Anglican bishop in Jerusalem. I could hear tears in his voice as he pointed to Jewish settlements. I thought of the desire of Israelis for security. But what of the Palestinians who have lost their land and homes?

[newyorican]

17. Yee-ouch!

That'll leave a mark...

Of course we'll be treated to all forms of derision aimed at Bishop Tutu for these remarks. Never mind that he has actually seen Apartheid with has own eyes. Speak out against Israeli policies, get attacked, it's such a predictable reaction that it's become pretty humorous.