Friday, October 31, 2008

Boycotting Jerusalem's Israeli-run elections is futile for the city's Palestinians

Akram Salhab in the Guardian, here
"...Despite the illegality of Israel's occupation and the continuing indignities, the decision of whether to vote or not should be made on the basis of political tactic, not political principle. For all its numerous faults, Israel has afforded Palestinians a degree of political representation and there is no reason why these democratic structures should not be pushed to their limits. With Palestinians constituting over 30% of the city's population, the Palestinian vote would hold significant sway in how the city is run and force the Israeli authorities to confront head-on the contradictions they face in being both a Jewish as well as a democratic state..."

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