A Palestinian Democratic Election 
Under Israeli Occupation

By Joseph R. Haiek, Publisher

The Palestinians and Iraqis have exercised their voting rights in the hope of achieving a democratic way of life, destiny and self determination.
So far, the Palestinians are still waiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, wondering if their newly elected President Mahmoud Abbas will be able to:
- Bring an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and restore genuine peace with justice and dignity to all within a two state solution;
- Ask the world community how democracy can flourish while Palestinians are living in open concentration camps surrounded by a wall similar to the Berlin and China walls, a wall that denies freedom of movement within their own borders between towns and villages, and hinders their access to the airport, trade, hospitals, educational institutions, water and power sources; 
- Will start calling his homeland "Palestine" instead of relying on the geographically convenient label "West Bank." Imagine referring to California as the "West Bank" of the Colorado river, or labeling Israel the "East Shore" of the Mediterranean. The Arab world press and world news agencies are urged to end their reliance on the inaccurate ‘West Bank’ reference and instead start identifying it with its proper country name: Occupied Palestine; 
- Find a way to stop violence on both sides. What has either been forgotten or ignored by so many for so long is that Israel is the occupying force armed with the most sophisticated weapons, the might of an air force, tanks, as well as the biological/nuclear arsenal. If Palestinians are expected to end their resistance to Israeli occupation that is accompanied by the destruction of thousands of homes, it will be accomplished through genuine negotiations to restore the Palestinian land;
- Improve the stagnant Palestinian economy by reaching out to the world community to advance the business climate encouraging fair trade and improving job opportunities;
- Convince the United Nations that Palestinians are still waiting to ask Israel why it has not complied with the U.N. Resolutions 194, 242 and 338, and why it is denying Palestinians in diaspora the morally legitimate right of return with reparations;
- Insist that the U.S. government be an even handed broker in negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis by supporting U.N. resolutions that call for an independent Palestine alongside Israel;
- Demand an end to the outrageous, three decades-old Israeli practice of bulldozing Palestinian homes and olive groves, among others;
- Persuade the Israelis that the Palestinians view the separating wall as an effort to hide Israeli intentions to annex more Palestinian territory, and that while it may provide the Israelis some short-term security, the downside is that in the long run it will allow tension and animosity to fester indefinitely;
- Curb corruption by filling new government positions based on professional, experience and education merits with high integrity;
- Press for the status of sharing Jerusalem between Palestine and Israel;
- Stop the construction of Israeli settlements and roads within the Palestinian occupied land perpetuating annexations and creating new facts on the ground. 
Time will tell whether or not President Abbas will be able to meet the challenges of securing a lasting peace between the Palestinians and Israelis on dignity, mutual respect and hope for a brighter destiny.
Otherwise the elections will not serve the true democracy, but instead will give birth to a faux democracy of occupation whereby Palestinian elected officials and police will serve merely as guards to the ambitious Israeli master plan of turning Palestine into a great Palestinian concentration camp. 
This is not even close to the outcome envisioned by "Road Map," a proposal by which the world assumption expected to foster a Palestinian-Israeli comprehensive peace with justice and dignified co-existence within parameters of a two independent state solution.
This is democracy if it happens.