- Title: VARIOUS: PALESTINIANS URGED TO VOTE ON DAY OF PALESTINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
- Date: 9th January 2005
- Summary: (W4) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JANUARY 9, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS ON A TRUCK WAVING FLAGS, ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO VOTE/ TRUCK WITH BANNER "YOUR VOICE COUNTS - VOTE - RAISE YOUR VOICE" 0.13 (W3) ABU DIS, WEST BANK (JANUARY 9, 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 2. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER AHMED QURIE REGISTERING AT VOTING STATION 0.27 3. VARIOUS OF QURIE VOTING 0.48 (W3) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JANUARY, 9 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 4. VARIOUS OF FRONT-RUNNING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND PALESTINIAN LEADER MAHMOUD ABBAS COLLECTING BALLOT PAPER AND GOING TO POLLING BOOTH 1.15 5. WIDE OF MAHMOUD ABBAS PUTTING BALLOT PAPER IN BOX 1.32 6. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) FRONT-RUNNING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND PALESTINIAN LEADER MAHMOUD ABBAS, SAYING: "The democratic process is taking place and is in good shape. If this proves anything, it proves that the Palestinians are up to participating in a democracy. And we hope that the voting process continues as it has done until now." 1.52 (U4) BEIT EL, NEAR RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JANUARY 9, 2005) (REUTERS- ACCESS ALL) 7. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN OFFICIALS SITTING OPPOSITE ISRAELI SOLDIERS 2.02 8. CLOSE OF MAN TAKING NOTES IN ARABIC 2.10 7. WIDE OF INCIDENT BOARD WITH ISRAELI WRITING 2.14 8. SMV OFFICIALS 2.18 9. SCU ISRAELI POLICE OFFICER (BLUE UNIFORM) 2.24 10. WIDE OF LIST OF POLLING STATIONS ON WALL 2.30 (W5) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JANUARY 9, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 11. VARIOUS OF PRO-PALESTINIAN ORTHODOX JEWS SHOWING SUPPORT FOR THE PALESTINIAN ELECTION BY VISITING GRAVESITE OF FORMER PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT 2.43 12. CLOSE OF ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEW MARCHING HOLDING A PICTURE OF ARAFAT AND WAVING A PALESTINIAN FLAG 2.48 13. CLOSE OF ORTHODOX JEW HOLDING ID CARD, ATTEMPTING TO VOTE, A REQUEST WHICH WAS DENIED SINCE GROUP DID NOT REGISTER FOR VOTING 2.53 14. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED MALE ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEW SAYING: "We came to show our support for the Palestinian people, a full support for the Palestinian people and for the sorrow and agony that they live under such a terrible occupation and besides that we came to participate to fulfil our commitment, our right, our historical right to vote. Unfortunately we could not register ourselves beforehand, that is why they don't let us participate." 3.15 15. CLOSE UP OF PICTURE OF ARAFAT ON WALL/PULLOUT TO ORTHODOX JEWS AT POLLING BOOTH 3.33 (U4) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JANUARY 9, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 16. SLV FADWA BARGHOUTHI, WIFE OF JAILED PALESTINIAN POLITICIAN, MARWAN BARGHOUTHI, WALKING TO POLLING STATION 3.38 17. SLV FADWA TALKING TO REPORTERS 3.44 18. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) FADWA BARGHOUTHI, WIFE OF JAILED PALESTINIAN POLITICIAN, MARWAN BARGHOUTHI, SAYING: "Marwan Barghouthi is in jail because he believes that the Palestinian people should have the right to live freely and in a democratic state. He suffers so that he can lift the suffering of other Palestinians." 4.00 19. VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS CHECKING FADWA'S IDENTIFICATION PAPERS 4.17 20. VARIOUS OF FADWA VOTING 4.36 (W4) JENIN, WEST BANK (JANUARY 9, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 21. SLV LOCAL LEADER OF THE AL AQSA MARTYRS' BRIGADE, ZAKARIA ZUBEIDI, AND MILITANTS, WALKING TO POLLING STATION 4.46 21. VARIOUS OF ZUBEIDI REGISTERING TO VOTE , SURROUNDED BY MEN WITH GUNS 4.55 22. CLOSE OF ZUBEIDI IDENTITY CARD 5.00 23. VARIOUS OF ZUBEIDI VOTING 5.12 (W4) NABLUS, WEST BANK (JANUARY 9 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 24. VARIOUS OF MILITANTS HANDING OVER THEIR WEAPONS TO PALESTINIAN POLICE BEFORE VOTING 5.20 25. CLOSE OF WEAPONS BEING PLACED BY WALL 5.26 (W4) JERUSALEM (JANUARY 9 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 26. WIDE OF ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SILVAN SHALOM AT NEWS CONFERENCE 5.31 27. SCU (SOUNDBITE)(English) ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SILVAN SHALOM, SAYING: "We would like to say very clear. Those elections are general elections of the Palestinians. We don't see why we should intervene, we should do everything we can to give them the possibility and the ability to have their own election and from tomorrow we would like to see them implementing their commitments in the road map, in phase one. There are not going to be any shortcuts in the road map, no compromises or discounts." 6.01 28. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE 6.07 (W4) GUSH KATIF SETTLEMENT BLOC, GAZA STRIP (JANUARY 9 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 29. WIDE OF ENTRANCE TO GUSH KATIF SETTLEMENT BLOC, SOON TO BE EVACUATED 6.11 30. SLV WATCHTOWER COVERED IN NETTING 6.14 31. WIDE OF TANK ON EMBANKMENT 6.19 32. WIDE OF FORTIFIED POSITION 6.25 33. WIDE OF SETTLEMENT/SKYLINE 6.29 34. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED SETTLER, SAYING: "Every day there are wounded and killed people from missiles from over there. I really don't think it will change if it is Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) or Abu Ala (Ahmed Qurie) or Arafat who would be the minister of the Palestinians." 6.54 35. SLV MAN CYCLING OVER BRIDGE 7.02 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 24th January 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JENIN, NABLUS, BEIT EL, RAMALLAH, ABU DIS, WEST BANK / JERUSALEM/ GUSH KATIF SETTLEMENT, GAZA STRIP
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVADMUYV7BJ992WLUKMLN5VT72IR
- Story Text: Palestinians urged to turn out and vote in
presidential elections.
Waving flags and tooting the horn of the truck that
they were driving, officials and volunteers from the
Palestinian Central Electoral Commission turned out in
force to urge voters to take part in landmark presidential
elections to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat.
By midday, the process of voting seemed to be going
ahead without many problems.
Front running candidate Mahmoud Abbas said, "The
democratic process is taking place and is in good shape. If
this proves anything, it proves that the Palestinians are
up to participating in a democracy. And we hope that the
voting process continues as it has done until now."
It's become a rare sight over the past four years of
Intifada, but the elections brought Israeli soldiers and
officials from Ramallah to the same table. They were taking
part in a joint operations room to monitor voting in and
around Ramallah.
The tones harked back to a different era -- before the
four-year-old Palestinian uprising.
A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews showed their support for
Palestinians by visiting Arafat's grave and attempted to
participate in the election.
Members of the religious organisation Neturei Karta,
which is the Aramaic term for "The Guardians of the City,"
don't believe in the state of Israel but rather the land of
Palestine.
They maintained close connections with the Palestinian
Authority during Arafat's era in which the former president
included them at important political meetings.
The group believes they have historical ties to the
land and the people in the region and also wanted to
participate in the election process.
"We came to participate to fulfil our commitment, our
right, our historical right to vote," said one member
standing inside Arafat's former compound in Ramallah, the
Muqata, which is being used as a polling station.
But while a steady stream of Palestinians cast their ballots on a
c
old and sunny day throughout the West Bank
and Gaza, Neturei Karta members were barred from
participating because they could not register beforehand.
Also in Ramallah the wife of a main figure in the
Intifada, Marwan Barghouthi, voted.
A Palestinian lawmaker once touted as Arafat's
successor, Barghouthi had considered running in the
elections, but withdrew.
Fadwa Barghouthi said she was voting on behalf of her
husband, who was suffering in jail so that others need not.
"Marwan Barghouthi is in jail because he believes that
the Palestinian people should have the right to live freely
and in a democratic state. He suffers so that he can lift
the suffering of other Palestinians," she said.
Barghouthi is serving five life terms after being
convicted of orchestrating Palestinian militant attacks. He
has been held in isolation since he was seized in an
Israeli military sweep of the West Bank in 2002, but is
soon to move in with other inmates.
In Jenin and Nablus, armed militants cast their votes
and looked likely to elect Abbas, who has promised to
revive peacemaking with Israel after years of bloodshed.
Militant Islamic groups called for a boycott of the
poll and Israel reasserted that progress towards peace
depended on a halt to "terrorism and violence".
Polls showed Abbas would win by a landslide after a
crowd-pleasing campaign in which he pledged to uphold the
iconic Arafat's struggle for statehood in Israeli-occupied
territories, but by non-violent means.
Israel, which branded Arafat an "arch-terrorist", has
sized up Abbas as a man it could deal with. U.S.-led
mediators have embraced him as a potential peacemaker.
In the first official comments by an Israeli cabinet
member today, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom urged the
Palestinians to end attacks on Israeli targets.
"We would like to say very clear. Those elections are
general elections of the Palestinians. We don't see why we
should intervene, we should do everything we can to give
them the possibility and the ability to have their own
election and from tomorrow we would like to see them
implementing their commitments in the road map, in phase
one. There are not going to be any shortcuts in the road
map, no compromises or discounts," he said.
In Gaza, Jewish settlers who are due to be forcibly
evacuated by Sharon's government later this year, looked on
with a mixture of scorn and indifference. One
French-speaking settler said that whoever wins, it would
not change much -- bombs would continue to rain down on the
settlement bloc that is home to some 7,000 inhabitants.
"Every day there are wounded and killed people from
missiles from over there. I really don't think it will
change if it is Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) or Abu Ala (Ahmed
Qurie) or Arafat who would be the minister of the
Palestinians," he said.
Palestinian militants defend the attacks by saying the
settlers have stolen their land from them.
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