Palestinian foreign minister Nasser Qidwa said today there are two main conditions for holding PLC elections on their scheduled date. The first is the participation of Jerusalem residents. He also said no Palestinian faction or individual should be prevented from participating, thus rejecting any foreign intervention in these elections, saying they were an internal Palestinian affair.
In a press statement today, Qidwa said he told Arab foreign ministers during their meeting in Cairo about a French project to build a tram system between Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. He said this is very dangerous and constitutes a flagrant and grave violation to the Fourth Geneva Convention in regards to occupied territories. Qidwa said they planned to contact the French government and the contracted company to prevent them from carrying out the project by highlighting the violations it represented to the rights of the Palestinian people, calling for its immediate halt.
Qidwa said the Arab League and some Arab foreign ministers reassured him of their opposition to any foreign interference in Palestinian elections and of the necessity to allow the Palestinian people to practice true democracy. He said all Palestinians and their factions should be able to participate and if they are not allowed, there would be no Palestinian elections on January 25.
Qidwa said today he would receive the report of Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa on Israeli construction of a buffer zone in the northern Gaza Strip and the dangerous ramifications and violations of Palestinian rights such an action entails.
