Palestine: The man almost certain to win the Palestinian election, Abu Mazen, did a victory lap yesterday. Michael Jansen in Ramallah was with him.
The Palestinian presidential election campaign wound up last night, 24 hours before Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem cast ballots in their second national poll.
The frontrunner, Mr Mahmud Abbas - known as Abu Mazen - rounded off a strenuous two weeks of rallies with events in the West Bank. But before setting out, he attended a midday service at the mosque in the presidential compound in Ramallah.
His first appointment was with 2,000 women gathered in an auditorium in al-Bireh, the neighbouring town. As he stepped onto the stage in well-cut grey flannel suit with a strip of black-and-white check Palestinian material round his neck, he was greeted enthusiastically. Youths at the back of the packed hall chanted, "One, two, three, Abu Mazen, my life".
Lifting his hands above his head in the way of the deceased president, Mr Yasser Arafat, Abu Mazen soaked up the adulation. Speaking in a hoarse voice, he promised to bring an end to occupation, and to secure freedom and peace, repeating these words over and over in the manner of a seasoned orator.
The reticent businessman has been transformed into a populist politician making promises most Palestinians say he will not be able to keep. His next stop was a kindergarten nearby where he reiterated his repetitive message to more women, children, and a scattering of men.
His words changed, however, when he addressed an outdoor rally of some 1,000 men and youths at the sprawling town of Bir Nabala just north of the wall which divides the West Bank from Israel's Greater Jerusalem municipality from which the candidates and campaign were ex- cluded.
He stood on a wide balcony on a white stone building to address the committed Fatah men and youths congregated below. Some carried Palestinian flags, others wore Fatah scarves, pins, and headbands. The "shebab," Fatah youth, led the cheerleading.
A Greek Orthodox priest stood beside Abu Mazen to show that he has Christian as well as Muslim support.
The word he used over and over again was "al-Quds" - Jerusalem. "We will regain Jerusalem . . . there is no peace without Jerusalem . . . we will have our independent state with Jerusalem as its capital . . . Jerusalem will be ours."
Jerusalem was the issue of the day because his chief rival, Dr Mustafa Barghouti, was detained briefly by the Israeli police at Lions' Gate while entering the old city of Jerusalem to pray at al-Aqsa mosque.
Although Dr Barghouti had an Israeli permit to go to Jerusalem, he was accused of using his visit to make election propaganda.
His arrest reminded Jerusalemites, West Bankers, and Gazans, once again, that they live in tight compartments and that the Palestinian National Authority has done nothing to end this state of affairs since its establishment after the first national election in 1996.
Abu Mazen's handlers dismissed Dr Barghouti's visit as a publicity stunt, but could not justify the cancellation of their candidate's afternoon election meeting at the Makassad Hospital overlooking the city. Abu Mazen later explained to the press that he cancelled his visit to Jerusalem because he did not wish to appear in the holy city surrounded by Israeli security men. But this explanation did not satisfy many Palestinians.
The final rally at Bir Nabala ended when a local worthy pronounced Abu Mazen to be the "president, successor to Abu Ammar," Mr Arafat, with whom Mr Abbas is often shown on election posters.
When Abu Mazen disappeared into the building, his supporters turned away and walked down the hill to their cars, buses and taxis. Those returning to their homes in "al-Quds," were held up for 25 minutes at the Israeli checkpoint at the entrance to Beit Hanina, the Palestinian residential suburb incorporated into Greater Jerusalem.
The line of vehicles was not long but the Russian- born Israeli soldier took his time to look at papers and check the boots of cars. The Israelis were meant to be easing passage through check- points during this period. - (Reuters)