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Police block rightist MKs from entering PA polling station
A group of right-wing MKs and extremists attempted to force their way into a Palestinian polling station in East Jerusalem where hundreds of Palestinians were voting in legislative elections Wednesday, police and witnesses said.
About 75 police blocked the way of two ultranationalist MKs and dozens of other extrmists, police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The MKs oppose the holding of the elections in East Jerusalem because they say it infringes on Israel's sovereignty over that sector of the city.
One of the MKs, Effi Eitam, accused Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of being in cahoots with Hamas to divide Jerusalem.
"This morning Jerusalem was divided and it became the capital of Hamastan," Eitam told Army Radio. Hamas was poised for a strong showing in Wednesday's parliament vote, and some Israelis have used the term Hamastan to describe what they see as a militant takeover of the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it to its capital. The Palestinians want it as the capital of a future state.
Israel has agreed to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote as they did in two previous elections, but forbade the Islamic militant group Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, from campaigning there.
Palestinians had feared that Israel would wipe the names of Hamas candidates off the ballots but in the end the Israelis did not tamper with them, the chief of the Palestinian Elections Commission, Hanna Nasser, told a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel opposes the participation of Hamas in the elections and said it will not meet with Hamas officials if they become a part of the Palestinian government.
Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia was stopped at an Israeli police roadblock Wednesday as he tried to enter Jerusalem to observe the elections, Qureia said. Police were not immediately available to comment on the issue.
In northern Jerusalem, police arrested two Hamas members who were campaigning with Hamas posters, violating an Israeli stipulation that no Hamas propaganda be distributed in the city, Ben-Ruby said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/674749.html
One of the MKs, Effi Eitam, accused Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of being in cahoots with Hamas to divide Jerusalem.
"This morning Jerusalem was divided and it became the capital of Hamastan," Eitam told Army Radio. Hamas was poised for a strong showing in Wednesday's parliament vote, and some Israelis have used the term Hamastan to describe what they see as a militant takeover of the West Bank and Gaza.
Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it to its capital. The Palestinians want it as the capital of a future state.
Israel has agreed to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote as they did in two previous elections, but forbade the Islamic militant group Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, from campaigning there.
Palestinians had feared that Israel would wipe the names of Hamas candidates off the ballots but in the end the Israelis did not tamper with them, the chief of the Palestinian Elections Commission, Hanna Nasser, told a press conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel opposes the participation of Hamas in the elections and said it will not meet with Hamas officials if they become a part of the Palestinian government.
Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia was stopped at an Israeli police roadblock Wednesday as he tried to enter Jerusalem to observe the elections, Qureia said. Police were not immediately available to comment on the issue.
In northern Jerusalem, police arrested two Hamas members who were campaigning with Hamas posters, violating an Israeli stipulation that no Hamas propaganda be distributed in the city, Ben-Ruby said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/674749.html
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