Democratic practice is complete when we respect the rights of those with whom we differ in opinion

Writer: Tayseer Khaled

The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, France and Britain expressed their deep regret over the decision to postpone the Legislative Council elections, as well as the presidential elections, to September 2027 and said in a joint statement: Nearly two decades have passed since the previous Legislative Council elections were held, and five years since the postponement of the elections planned for 2021. An entire generation of Palestinians has reached adulthood without having the opportunity to choose their elected representatives. This delay would be deeply disappointing, would once again deprive Palestinians of the opportunity to vote, and would further erode confidence in democratic institutions.

They called for reconsidering the decision to postpone the elections, and taking the necessary steps to hold legislative and presidential elections, without further delay, and renewed their demand for Israel to refrain from taking actions that could obstruct the holding of the elections, including the practical arrangements necessary for the participation of all Palestinians in the elections.

So far, the position of the foreign ministers seems acceptable, and it is in line with the position of a number of Palestinian political forces and entities, most notably the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which opposes the postponement decision and calls for it to be reversed in response to a long-awaited national political and constitutional entitlement that enables the Palestinian people to elect their institutions and leaders and renew their legitimacy. We add that we appreciate these countries in particular for their positions in the recent period. They have recognized, with their political weight, the State of Palestine and have issued advanced positions opposing the aggressive, settlement-based expansionist policy of the Israeli occupying state. They have imposed sanctions on settlers and settlement entities that practice violence and terrorism against Palestinians in the Palestinian territories occupied by the June 1967 aggression, and threaten more sanctions if the occupying state implements projects. Settlement settlements irrevocably threaten the chances of reaching a political settlement based on the so-called “two-state solution.”

However, this inappropriate interference in Palestinian national affairs is absolutely unacceptable, after these ministers stressed what they called a “firm position” calling for the exclusion of political forces such as the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” from participating in these elections and excluding them from any role in the future of governance in Palestine, as stated in the statement issued by these ministers.

For further clarification here, I would like to confirm that I am not a fan of the Hamas movement and its policies, especially after it contributed, after its coup against the Authority in 2007, to corrupting Palestinian political and constitutional life. However, democratic practice is not complete, in principle, if we do not respect the rights of those with whom we differ in opinion, and this is what the relevant ministers must respect.

Beyond that, I see this exclusion, expressed by the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada and France, as an arrogant position and reflecting double standards in their countries’ policy. These ministers did not issue a position on some of the parties participating in the Israeli legislative elections scheduled for the end of this month, such as the “Religious Zionism Party” led by Bezalel Smotrich and the “Jewish Greatness” Party, led by Itamar Ben Gvir. They are two extreme right-wing parties that deny the Palestinian people their most basic political and human rights and call without shame in their policies and electoral programs for a policy of discrimination and apartheid. It reminds us of what the situation was like in South Africa during the era of the defunct discrimination and apartheid governments, and it reminds us of the policy of ethnic cleansing, which was practiced by the German Nazis during the era of the Third Reich.