Urgent call for Palestinian Comprehensive Democratic Elections

We, the sons and daughters of the Palestinian people and representatives of Palestinian national and social forces, are pained by the continuation of the divisions amongst us, and by the absence of a unified national leadership and a comprehensive national strategy.  This comes at a time when democratic freedoms are in retreat, and when the right to expression and assembly is being suppressed. There is also a serious imbalance of power in favor of the Israeli occupation and the apartheid regime that threatens us with ethnic cleansing and settler colonial displacement of our people. Based upon our belief in the role of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the need to protect it from marginalization, the hegemony of the Palestinian Authority and unilateral decision-making, we insist on the right of the Palestinian people in their homeland and in the diaspora to choose their national leadership in a democratic fashion through free elections to the Palestinian National Council, including electing its members inside Palestine through elections for the Palestine Legislative Council and the Presidency.

We demand the immediate announcement of a date for elections for the Palestine National Council, the Palestinian Legislative Council, and the Presidency. We insist that these elections be held in Jerusalem as well, without waiting for the occupation’s approval, and outside the confines of the failed Oslo agreements.

We affirm that holding democratic elections, which are our right, is the only way out of our current internal crisis.  Elections will form the basis for national unity and the development of a national resistance strategy addressing the Palestinian people’s rights, and their aspirations for return of Palestinian refugees, freedom, self-determination, and an end to the occupation and the apartheid regime of racial discrimination.

Dr. Mamdouh Aker Dr. Mustafa Barghouti Khaleda Jarrar Dr. Hasan Khreisha Dr. Musa Saleh Taysir abu Sneineh Omar Assaf Jamil Majdalawi Mohsen Aburamadan Yusef qwaider Raja Shehadeh Dr. Aed Yaghi Amal Khreisha Ziad Amer bassam Qawasmi Kayed Alghoul Taysir Alzibri Dr. George Giacaman Shirin Abuhlal Samar Hawash Dr. Khaled Saifi Ubai Aboudi Dr. Muhamad Aboushi Ruba Masrouji    Contact the author of the petition