Israel Bans Voting in E. Jerusalem

Worried about an opposing political party gaining popular support in an election? Well, one way to deal with it is to simply ban 200,000 or so people from voting. Selective Democracy at it's finest...

Source
Israel Bans Voting in E. Jerusalem
Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News

GAZA CITY, 22 December 2005 — Mahmoud Abbas’ aides talked yesterday about the possibility of postponing Jan. 25 Parliament elections, citing Israel’s decision to ban voting in Jerusalem.

Postponing or even canceling the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary election could serve the interests of Abbas and the Israelis, but both sides dismissed speculation that they were in this together.

Hamas, entering a parliamentary race for the first time, expects to capitalize on internal bickering that has split Abbas’ Fatah party. Israel is alarmed at the possibility that Hamas could do well in the voting or even win.

Regardless of what you may think of the Hamas, they are participating in a legitmate political process for once and banning people from voting is hardly a peaceful solution. Banning the vote will only further enrage the people of East Jerusalem and fuel the violence further. You can't reasonably claim to be a democratic society then ban people from voting because you don't like the candidates they may or may not vote for, unless of course you live in an occupied territory or some kind of seriously ugly aparthide.