Although more than a week has passed since the Palestinian government officially requested Israeli permission to have East Jerusalemites participate in the expected Palestinian elections, the Israelis have yet to respond, leaving the issue of the elections in doubt.
The Oslo Accord has allowed for Palestinians to vote absentee using Jerusalem-based post office centers. Anis F. Kassim, editor of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law, told Al-Monitor that the Israeli hesitation in supporting the rights of East Jerusalem residents to participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections is very telling. “Jerusalem is internationally sanctioned as an occupied territory and Israel acknowledged under the Oslo Accords that Jerusalem is subject to negotiations, which by implication means that it isn’t settled as Israeli territory.”
