E.Jerusalem Fatah candidates quit elections to protest Israeli ban

Fifteen candidates of the mainstream Fatah movement in East Jerusalem have withdrawn their candidacy for the upcoming Palestinian legislative elections in protest against Israel's ban on polls there, one of the candidates said on Saturday.

Hatem Abed al-Qader told a local Palestinian radio that 15 Fatah candidates declared withdrawal from the Jan. 25 elections on Friday because Israel still did not give a green light to polls in East Jerusalem.

No elections would be complete if East Jerusalem residents could not vote, he said.

Al-Qader also said that negotiations between the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and Israel had hit a snag as the Jewish state insisted on banning East Jerusalem residents to participate in the elections slated for Jan. 25.

"East Jerusalem residents should be allowed to cast their ballots in the elections," he said, adding that if polls are not allowed in East Jerusalem, then the elections should be cancelled.

Palestinians are scheduled to hold the parliamentary elections on Jan. 25.

Key Mideast peace brokers of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia urged Israel in a Wednesday statement to work with the PNA to ensure that East Jerusalem residents can vote in the legislative elections.

A statement by the Quartet Committee said it was essential that Israel and the Palestinians started immediately coordinating election preparations.

Israel had previously said that it would not allow East Jerusalem residents to vote in the elections since the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), a group sworn to Israel's destruct, is slated to participate and widely expected to do well in the polls.

But the Jewish state backed off from the ban threat earlier this week as officials said the government was considering polls in East Jerusalem.

Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War and then annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. Palestinians want it as the capital of their future state.

Source: Xinhua