January 3, 1996From Correspondent Walter Rodgers
RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Less than three weeks before the first West Bank elections since the Israeli pullout, allegations of human rights violations by Yasser Arafat's police forces have led Palestinians to take to the streets to demand a government based on law.
In an orderly march, they carried signs demanding that "Everyone should be answerable to the law."
Their concern was sparked by a series of arrests, the most recent being that of Bassam Eid, an outspoken critic of Arafat's autocratic style. He was taken into custody by Force 17, the PLO chairman's personal police guard, just a few hours before the march.
Such apparently unwarrantely arrests alarm Europeans monitoring the Palestinian elections.
Last week police arrested newspaper editor Maher al Alami for failing to put a flattering story about Arafat on the front page. The ramifications have been frightening for his family. ( 85k AIFF sound or 85k WAV sound)
It may be not be too surprising that Arafat is using a heavy-handed, if not undemocratic, style in this first national Palestinian election. After all, he is known as a revolutionary leader. But many Palestinians worry he is not setting a good tone for Palestinian democracy.
Arafat says he wants voters to elect the best candidate, but he and his Fatah movement are the only ones Palestinians have seen on television in recent months.
What may be worse is that such apparent control of the political arena is breeding a certain cynicism in the electorate.
Azmi Shouaibi, a candidate for office who can't get on Palestinian television, complains that Palestinian TV is the Arafat network. Even many of those reluctant to make an open break with Arafat are bothered by his media monopolization, the arrests of journalists and the effect it has on other reporters. ( 111k AIFF sound or 111k WAV sound)
Two years ago Palestinians would have been marching against
Israeli occupation. Now they are worried about how much new
freedom they will enjoy under Palestinian rule.
Parliamentary candidate Mustafa Barghouti said true democracy
may be at risk if it is not used during the elections. ( 128k AIFF sound or
128k WAV sound)
Islamic fundamentalists are sitting out the elections, calling them a sham. Sitting on the sidelines may show that the fundamentalists are perhaps not Arafat's biggest challenge in this campaign, but rather his credibility is.
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