VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJM #0347/01 0251700
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 251700Z JAN 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9923
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000347 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS ASEC KDEM KPAL KWBG IS
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS: ELECTION DAY 
SITREP # 4 AS OF 6:00 PM, JANUARY 25, 2006 
 
REF: A. JERUSALEM 345 
     ¶B. JERUSALEM 340 
     ¶C. JERUSALEM 338 
     ¶D. JERUSALEM 00324 
 
Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
------- 
Summary 
-------- 
 
¶1. (C) As of 6:00 pm local time, Palestinian Legislative 
Council (PLC) elections continued to go smoothly with only 
sporadic reports of violence. The Central Elections 
Commission reported voter turnout at 64.7 percent with 
810,000 voting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  Slow lines 
at East Jerusalem Post Offices may be contributing to many 
going to polling stations outside of the Jerusalem 
municipality boundaries to vote.  There were several reports 
of altercations between Hamas and Fatah/al-Aqsa supporters in 
Hebron and the Gaza Strip.  Because of unconfirmed reports of 
a grenade attack at one polling station and a shooting in 
Gaza City, NDI decided to pull its observers out of Gaza. 
The NDI Command Post described the atmosphere in Gaza as 
growing more tense than in the West Bank.  Media outlets 
continued their continuous coverage of the elections.  End 
summary. 
 
---------------------- 
64.7 percent Voter 
Turnout, as of 6:00 pm 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) At 6:00 pm, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) 
reported voter turnout at 64.7 percent with 810,000 
Palestinians having already voted in the West Bank and Gaza 
Strip.  The CEC has decided to extend the hours of the 
polling stations until 9 pm.  Requests have also been made to 
the GOI to allow voting to continue until 9 pm in Jerusalem. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Steady Voting Continues in Jerusalem 
But Many Likely Going Outside 
Because of Long Lines 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (C) Israeli police representatives in the joint police 
command post reported to the RSO at 5 pm that 2,200 eligible 
voters had turned out in Jerusalem.  Voting was steady at the 
Salah Ed-din Post Office polling station in East Jerusalem 
with seven windows open and more than 1400 of 3550 eligible 
voters having already cast their ballots.  Inside the post 
office when Senator Biden and Consul General observed the 
voting at 2:00 pm, the atmosphere was calm, with 30 to 35 
people in line waiting to vote. The Post Office's security 
removed one Fatah supporter allegedly trying to tell those in 
line how to vote, but otherwise Israeli police were not 
interfering in the process.  A small group of 10-15 people 
were protesting outside the Salah Ed-din Post Office, 
carrying signs and chanting against the occupation.  Fatah 
supporters were also chanting pro-Fatah slogans. A solitary 
heckler criticized U.S. policy in Guantanamo Bay and Abu 
Gharib.  In a conversation with PolOff, Mahdi Abdul Hadi, the 
head of Palestinian NGO Passia, criticized the voting 
procedures in East Jerusalem as lacking privacy, stating that 
the postal workers could see who the voters were selecting. 
 
¶4. (C) Voting was somewhat lighter at the Jaffa Gate Post 
Office in the Old City of Jerusalem, with only 114 of 550 
eligible voters having turning out by late afternoon.  By 
4:15 pm, only observers were at this polling station.  At the 
a-Tur Post Office, 220 out of 550 eligible voters had voted 
by 4:40 pm.  PolOff described that polling station as very 
quiet though the line was moving slowly with only 24 voting 
each hour.  Given the wait time of more than an hour, many 
voters had decided to vote outside of the municipal 
boundaries. 
 
¶5.  (C) PolOff reported from the Sur Baher Post Office in 
southern Jerusalem that well over 300 of the 550 voters 
eligible to vote there had voted by 5:50 pm, but there, too, 
he noted that there was a long wait time, so many also could 
have gone to vote outside of Jerusalem.  He commented that 
Hamas was extremely well-organized in that area and that the 
Hamas representatives outside of the polling station had a 
list of Hamas supporters and knew who to expect at the voting 
station, thereby illustrating the level of commitment of 
Hamas and their supporters. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Longer Lines in Gaza; Atmosphere 
Growing More Tense There 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) The NDI command center, according to the ConOff 
stationed there, is receiving reports of longer voting lines 
at polling stations in Gaza than in the West Bank and that 
the Palestinian police are containing those lines.  NDI also 
commented that there was a higher degree of "assisted voting" 
in Gaza, than in the West Bank.  In general, NDI was 
reporting that since 2 pm, local time, the atmosphere in Gaza 
is growing more tense, especially from a security perspective. 
 
---------------------------- 
Sporadic Reports of Violence 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C)  Sporadic reports of violence throughout the West Bank 
and Gaza have been reported.  PD FSNs reported that 
Arabic-language radio station 98.1 broadcasted a report that 
a PA security officer was beaten by unidentified individuals 
outside a polling place in Beit Awua, near Hebron.  Fist 
fights also broke out between Fatah and Hamas supporters 
inside one Hebron-area polling station in Shyookh, between 
Hamas and al-Aqsa supporters in Safftay, northern Gaza, and 
in Bani Suheila, near Khan Younis in Gaza.  The RSO also 
received an unconfirmed report of gunshots near a hospital 
located in the center of Ramallah.  (Note: He also received 
reports that IDF vehicles were stoned in Rafat, north of 
Ramallah, but noted that this was likely unrelated to the 
elections.  End note.) 
 
¶8.  (C) Still-unconfirmed reports of the grenade attack at a 
Gaza City polling station and a shooting in Beit Hanoun 
(reftel A) led NDI, according to the ConOff at NDI's command 
center, to pull its election observers from polling stations 
in Gaza to reassess their safety. 
 
¶9.  (C) NDI received reports from Canadian observers at the 
Tariq Bin Ziyad School polling station in Hebron that there 
was a small riot there that caused the site director to shut 
the door and lock the two Canadian observers inside.  The 
station was reopened 20 minutes later, according to RSO 
sources. 
 
----------------------------- 
Mustafa Barghouthi predicting 
third place for his list 
----------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C) ConGenOff observers in Beitunia, next to Ramallah, 
met "Independent Palestine" List leader Mustafa Barghouthi, 
who told them, "This is a great day.  When did you see 
anything like this in the Arab world?"  Barghouthi added that 
he expected to come in third place, behind Fatah and Hamas. 
Polling stations workers in the Ramallah area told Econ FSN 
that Barghouthi was visiting a number of polling stations in 
the Ramallah area and shaking hands with voters. 
 
---------------------------- 
Voter Participation Cuts 
Across Socio-economic Levels 
---------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) ConGenOff observers in Ramallah described a carnival 
atmosphere in the streets there, with a broad cross-section 
of the population at the twelve polling stations they visited 
in Ramallah.  They reported seeing a modernly-attired mother 
with a falafel-juggling tot in tow, silk-scarf wearing 
businessmen, younger women in the hijab grandmothers in 
traditional embroidery dresses, laborers with their callused 
hands bringing in their younger sons to assist them in 
voting, and an older gentleman sporting the practical 
combination of an Eddie Bauer windbreaker and a caffia. 
Elsewhere in Ramallah, Hamas supporters were seen driving a 
jaunty yellow bulldozer festooned with a large poster of 
Sheikh Yassin and a startlingly large number of green Hamas 
flags. 
 
¶12.  (C) One voter in Hizma, a poorer village sandwiched 
between Jerusalem and Ramallah, described election day "like 
a wedding."  The independent candidate for one of the 
Jerusalem seats, Rajeh Abu Asab, made a dramatic entrance at 
the Hizma polling station when he drove up in his H3 Hummer, 
drawing an excited crowd of little boys, off from school for 
the day because of the elections. 
 
-------------- 
 
Media Coverage 
-------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Al-Jazeera, which has correspondents in Jerusalem, 
Ramallah, Bethlehem/Beit Sahour, Hebron, and Gaza/Khan 
Younis, reported that clashes between Fatah and Hamas 
supporters erupted at a polling station in northern Hebron. 
The conflict began when several voters tried to take photos 
inside voting booths.  Twelve people were reportedly injured, 
however, Palestinian security forces were said to have 
controlled the situation and restored calm at the station. 
Al-Jazeera also carried a comment by the election commission 
chairman, Hanna Nasser, who said that the elections were 
running smoothly and that no major problems had been 
reported.  Nasser said he expected the number of voters 
casting ballots to be high. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Meanwhile, al-Arabiya quoted Muhammad Dahlan as 
saying, "Fatah will respect the Palestinian people's decision 
regardless of the elections' results."  Al-Arabiya also 
featured a report from Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, 
where Palestinian refugees expressed regret that they could 
not vote in the elections.  The official PA station, PBC, 
carried live coverage from Jericho and Gaza, where voting was 
said to be running smoothly, with no disruptions.  Al Hurra 
and Nile News continued to cover the Palestinian elections 
with no unusual reports. 
WALLES