The Palestinian president has said he will delay parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 January if Israel bars Jerusalem Arabs from voting.
| Fox News sez Israel's gonna let them vote, so they've got to find another excuse... |
 It is the first time Mahmoud Abbas has said he may postpone the poll.
| I think we've seen it coming, whether he's said anything about it or not, since it's pretty obvious Fatah's gonna get tromped... |
"We all agree that Jerusalem should be included in the elections," Abbas said in Doha, Qatar, on Monday. "If it is not included, all the factions agree there should be no elections."
| "Nope. Nope. Can't do it." |
Israeli officials initially said they would not allow voting in East Jerusalem - occupied and then annexed in 1967 - even via post offices as in previous ballots, but they have since indicated that they will "contemplate" allowing Palestinians to vote. Abbas has been under pressure by senior figures of his Fatah party to delay the vote. On Saturday, eight members of Fatah's central committee, including Ahmad Qureia, the prime minister, and Nabil Shaath, his deputy, called for the elections to be postponed. The committee said elections would not proceed without guarantees that Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem could vote, after holding an emergency meeting on Sunday. |