Barhoum: All Israeli political parties have criminal record with the Palestinians

[ 10/02/2009 - 10:20 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Fawzi Barhoum, the spokesman of Hamas Movement in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that Hamas and the Palestinian people see no difference between Israeli political leaders as all of them are working to exterminate the Palestinian people.

In a statement he issued in reaction to the Israeli elections, and a copy of which was obtained by the PIC, Barhoum explained that the Palestinian people had experienced leaders of the Zionist criminality over the past 17 elections since the Hebrew state was illegally founded on occupied Palestinian lands in 1948, adding that the common denominator between all those leaders was the killing and displacement of Palestinian people.

"He who thinks there are differences between the Zionist occupation criminal leaders is wrong, all of them are terrorists and all of them seek to develop terror schemes against our people who are struggling for their rights," Barhoum said, stressing that a change of faces does not mean a change of  policies [towards Palestinians].

In this regard, Barhoum pointed out that Hamas does not wager on the outcome of the Israeli elections and thus its programs take into account the Palestinian people's interests and aspirations rather than who is going to be in power in the Israeli occupation government.

He also stressed that the Zionist terror developed from the terrorism of gangs and militias [in the 1930s and 40s] into institutionalized terrorism that has developed into a culture of the Israeli society which explains the gains made by extremist groups and explains why Israeli leaders campaign for elections by shedding Palestinian blood.

Finally,  Barhoum stressed that regardless of who will ascend to power in the Zionist entity, Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian resistance factions will remain faithful to Palestinian people's legal rights and national constants, in addition to defending the Palestinian land to last breath.

Salah: No Israeli party supports establishment of Palestine state

[ 10/02/2009 - 11:48 AM ]

UM AL-FAHAM, (PIC)--

Shaikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, has asserted that no Israeli party was supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Shaikh Salah, in a press statement, pointed out that during the Israeli parties' election campaign none mentioned the words peace, noting that all parties left and right were supportive of the "savage" war on Gaza.

Any Israeli party calling for establishment of a Palestinian state is deceitful and not telling the truth, he opined, adding that all Israeli parties were only trying to gain time in order to liquidate the Palestine cause and to judaize Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The Islamic leader said that his Movement does not believe in joining the parliamentary elections in the Hebrew state, explaining that the Israeli parliament over its history never endorsed an Arab right or annulled a wrongdoing against the Arabs.

Arab members of that parliament are only voicing protest notes, Shaikh Salah said, adding that their presence in the Israeli parliament is beautifying the image of Israel to the world.

He said that rights are taken through steadfastness on the land and homes, adding that over 60 years of "Zionist occupation" the Palestinians in the 1948 lands were the victims of racial and religious discrimination other than hearing constant calls for their transfer out of their lands.

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Israeli election: Livni wins 28 seats, Netanyahu 27, Parliamentary chaos as both declare victory

Date: 11 / 02 / 2009  Time:  09:48
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party appears to have pulled off a narrow victory in Tuesday’s election, winning 28 seats in the Knesset with Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party close behind with 27.

Both Livni and Netanyahu, however, have claimed victory and say that they are seeking to form governing coalitions.

With 99% of the vote counted, Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s Labor party won 13 seats, while the extreme rightist Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party won 15.

Exit polls by Israel's three main television networks on Tuesday night also pointed to a slim Kadima victory.

Despite Kadima’s apparent victory, the right wing will hold the balance of power in the coming Knesset, with rightist parties, led by Likud, projected to control 63 to 64 seats in the 120-member parliament. A center-left bloc headed by Livni will only hold 56 or 57.

The secular left-wing Meretz won only three seats. Right-wing religious parties also won few seats. United Torah Judaism won five seats, followed by the National Union with 4 and the Bayit Hayehudi with three. The Israeli Arab party Ra'am Ta'al scored four seats and Balad won three.

The Pensioners Party and the Green Movement-Meimad each won just 1 percent of the total vote, just missing the threshold to gain a seat in the Knesset.

Israeli sources: TV polls give Kadima 30 Knesset seats

Wednesday February 11, 2009 02:48 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Israeli elections were conducted on Tuesday and with more than 50% of the casted votes counted, the Kadima party seems to be in the first place with 29 out of 120 Knesset seats. The Likud party is not far behind with 27 seats.

Benjamin Netanyahu of the the right wing Likud party

The race for prime minister is very close between Israel’s Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, who so far remains in the first place, and Benjamin Netanyahu with only 2 seats behind.

The Labor party suffered a noticeable blow with only 13 to 12 seats, and the extremist right wing party, Yisrael Beitenu, headed by Avigdor Lieberman garnering 15 to 16 seats.

All exit polls conducted by the three main TV stations in Israel showed Kadima as the winning party and the Likud as the second largest party.

Israeli online daily, Haaretz, said that reporters of Channel 1, channel 2 and channel 10, sated that all counted ballot boxes indicated a victory to Tzipi Livni and her Kadima party.

 Haaretz added that although Livni seems to be winning, it remains unclear if she will be able to form a coalition with a minimum of 61 Knesset seats as the Israeli law requires this number of seats as a minimum for a coalition government.

After the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, resigned following criminal investigations, Livni was in charge of forming a new government but could not gather the needed 61-seat coalition and general elections were called for.

Haaretz said that even if the exit polls are correct, the right-wing bloc, led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, will garner 63-64 seats, while the center-left bloc, headed by Livni, will take 56-57 seats. This means that a win in the polls does not necessarily mean that the next government will have a center-left formula.

Haaretz reported that exit polls of the three main TV stations in Israel were as follows;

Channel 1 poll; Kadima 30, Likud 28, Labor 13, and Yisrael Beiteinu, 14.

Channel 2 poll; Kadima 29, Likud 27, Labor 13 and Yisrael Beiteinu 15.

 Channel 10: Kadima 30, Likud 28, Labor 13 and Yisrael Beiteinu 15.

Addressing supporters in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said that although he may be the second in the polls, the party will be the key component of any government collation.

Sources at the Likud party said that Netanyahu will be meeting with Lieberman on Wednesday in order to hold talks on forming a right-wing coalition that would block the Kadima party.

Israeli 2009 elections: Kadima leads the votes with 30 seats

Ghassan Bannoura, IMEMC News, Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:27:11

First reports of votes counts show that the, center-right, Kadima party, head by Tzipi Livni, has won 30 seats out of the 120 seats of the Israeli Knesset –Parliament.

The Israeli channel 10 reported that the right wing Likud party, lead by Benjamin Netanyahu have got 28 seats, while the radical right party Yisrael Beitenu have scored 15 seats.

The labor party has got 13 seats while the religious group Shass has got 9 seats. The Israeli channel 10 reported.

Media sources have reported celebrations at the Kadima party campaign stations shortly after the reports was announced on TV.

Israeli 2009 elections: 2% increase increase in votes from 2006 elections

Tuesday February 10, 2009 17:02 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli Knesset -Parliament- elections commenced Tuesday to determine the next 120 Knesset members. By the afternoon, the turn out was 32 percet, a two percent increase from the 2006 elections. 

The polling stations opened on Tuesday morning at 7:00 AM and will be closed at 10:00 PM in the cities, and 8:00 PM in towns and villages, the Israeli Election Committee reported. There are 5.4 million illegible voters that will vote at 9,000 different polling stations, the committee added.   

The latest polls indicate that the leader of the right wing Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to win the Prime Minster's office, but the margin between Netanyahu and rival of the center-right Kadima party, Tzipi Livni, has shrunk considerably.  

The election process is being reported as going smoothly, with only a few isolated incidents in polling stations in Jerusalem, along with clashes between Israeli police and residents of the Arab-Israeli town of Umm al-Fahim. The residents were trying to stop elections observer, Baruch Marzel, from arriving into the town.

Marzel is a far-right Israeli politician and settler who has used his position to incite anti-Palestinian sentiment among rightist Jews in Israel.

Marzel had previously called for the transfer of Arabs from Israel, and in 2006, he called for the assassination of Israeli peace activists, including Uri Avery of the Israeli peace group Gush Shalom.  

In Israel, the elections are based on proportional representation, meaning that voters vote from a list of political parties, and not for individual "leaders".  

5.4 million Israelis to vote in Tuesday elections, Likud neck-in-neck with Kadima

Monday February 09, 2009 16:43 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

The latest polls show that the leader of the right wing Likud party, candidate Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to win the Prime Minster's race - but the margin between Netanyahu and rival Tzipi Livni, of the center-right Kadima party, has shrunk considerably.

The leading candidate for the position of prime minister, Netanyahu, last week pledged to supporters that he would not allow the return of the occupied Palestinian territories to the Palestinians, or evacuate any Israeli settlement. He also said that he would not return the Golan Heights to Syria. (The West Bank settlements and the Golan Heights are illegally occupied, and Israel has refused UN Security Council resolutions requiring Israeli forces to evacuate the settlements)

This week, after weeks of enjoying a wide lead in the polls, Likud is now expected to have a neck-in-neck race with the center-right Kadima party, led by the current Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni.  Political analysts expect that Livni may attract voters from the Labor party, and other parties considered to be on the left.

Meanwhile, the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, voiced concerns over the remarks made by some Israeli candidates during the elections against Palestinians with Israeli citizenship.

Israeli Arabs, as Peres called them in his interview with an Israeli radio station, "are citizens with equal rights in Israel." 

Avigdor Lieberman, founder and chairman of the radical right party Yisrael Beitenu , told supporters, on a number of occasions during his campaign, that he wants to annex Jewish settlements into Israel, and, at the same time, wants to leave the towns of Palestinians with Israeli citizenship outside of the new borders of Israel.  The latest polls show that Lieberman may win 15 seats or more in the Israeli Knesset (Parliament). 

Israel practices a variety of discriminatory laws against Palestinians living in Israel (which comprise 20% of the population of Israel), and those who live in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli politicians often refer to Israel as a Jewish-Democratic State, excluding the rights of non-Jews living in the state.  

High turnout in Israeli election

Date: 10 / 02 / 2009  Time:  10:43
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

Nearly 42% of eligible voters cast their ballots in Israel’s national election by 4pm on Tuesday, braving wind, rain, and hail in what appears to be a high turnout poll.

Voting will continue until 10pm on Tuesday at more than 9,000 polling stations. Some five million voters were expected to turn out.

Among those elible to vote are some 12,000 prisoners and nearly half a million settlers living in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Israeli police said they arrested three people for breaches of election law in Jerusalem, including one of the supporters of the Labor party after he allegedly attacked a supporter of the centrist Kadima party at the entrance to the city.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party, is leading in recent polling, but his slipped some 10 seats during the past two months. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the leader of Kadima, appeared to catch up to within a few seats of Netanyahu, injecting last minute drama into what had been a cakewalk for Netanyahu.

The rise of Israel’s extreme rightist Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party and its leader Avigdor Lieberman, has been the other storyline of the election. In some polls, Yisrael Beiteinu took the third largest share of seats, giving Lieberman the right to seek a senior ministerial portfolio, such as foreign affairs or defense. In control of a sizable bloc of seats, Lieberman may have the ability to tip the balance between Likud and Kadima.

Lieberman cast his vote near his home in the illegal West Bank settlement Noqdim, southeast of the city of Bethlehem.

Labor leader and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak has suffered decisively in recent polling, despite an upswing in numbers following the incursion he led into Gaza beginning on 27 December, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians.

Much of the drama, then, will come after the election, in the complex process of coalition building. Netanyahu has pledged to form a unity government, but facing a realigned parliamentary equation, he may find himself in right-wing government with Lieberman.


***Updated 17:15 Bethlehem time