Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said today that contacts to pressure Israel to allow Palestinian legislative elections in occupied Jerusalem are continuing until the leadership holds its important meeting on Thursday evening to determine the fate of the elections and reach a unified position on that.
He told the official Voice of Palestine radio that the leadership is going to study all issues and listen to the Palestinian parties participating in the meeting to get a clear picture in order to come up with a unified position and a final answer about holding elections in all the Palestinian territories, including in Jerusalem.
Abu Rudeineh said that Israel has not yet allowed the Europeans to send observers to monitor the elections, adding that the European Union has not received a positive response until this moment in this regard.
He held the Israeli government responsible for obstructing the elections so far, calling on world governments to help remove the obstacles placed on holding the elections in all the Palestinian territories, foremost in Jerusalem.
Abu Rudeineh reiterated the leadership’s assertion, particularly President Mahmoud Abbas, that the elections will not take place without Jerusalem.
He said that the youth in Jerusalem stood firm against attacks by the occupation authorities and settlers on Jerusalem and its holy places to make it clear to the whole world that Jerusalem is Arab and Islamic land and that the holy places cannot be touched.
He added that the Jerusalem uprising affirmed the Palestinians’ right to hold elections in Jerusalem and the rejection of all Israeli measures.