Palestinians see no hope for peace in Zionist Slaughterer Israeli polls

“Regardless of who wins, the result is the same: Israelis want this land but not the people,” said Ahmed Amro, a professor at Al-Quds Open University in Ramallah.

“The Palestinians should have a plan to face this situation we’re in, and not put much stock in who wins,” he said of the four million people under Israeli occupation.

Israel has occupied the West Bank including East Jerusalem since capturing it in the 1967 Middle East War, along with the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. Gaza has remained under tight curbs on movement since Israeli soldiers and settlers withdrew in 2005.

Opinion polls predict that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will return to power at the head of a coalition dominated by hardline religious and nationalist pro-settler parties which give short shrift to US-backed peace efforts.

“We hope this election will lead to peace, to the recognition of the Palestinian state and to the rights of the Palestinian people,” said Gaza physician Hussein Ekelan.

“But all indications say Netanyahu will win, and this will be a big disaster,” he said.

Palestinians divided

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2010 over the building of settlements in the West Bank, which Palestinians say deny them a viable future state.

Palestinians themselves have struggled to elect a national government to present a united front against Israel’s policies and further their decades-long quest for independence.

Parliamentary polls in 2006 gave Hamas a surprise win, shocking Israel and Western countries who consider it a terrorist organization, and leading to a brief civil war with its secular Fatah rivals in Gaza the following year.

Entrenched in Gaza, Hamas has not allowed elections in six years and expelled an election committee meant to pave the way for new polls as part of a stalled unity plan in 2012.

Fatah held local polls in the West Bank which Hamas boycotted, leading to a disappointing turnout.

President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also Fatah’s leader, has outstayed his term by three years since he was elected in 2005.

While Palestinians are united in dismissing Israel’s elections, their internal political rifts remain deep.

Hamas opposes US-sponsored negotiations, advocating armed struggle instead. Abbas has put his faith in diplomacy, but neither strategy has brought Palestinians much closer to achieving their national aspirations.

Asked of their hopes for Israel’s polls, three grocers in a Ramallah store all mumbled: “What does it matter?”

“Labor, Likud, there’s no difference,” Mohammad Zaid said, mentioning the main left-wing and right-wing Israeli parties.

“Me, I care what happens on the street here in Palestine, and I don’t like what Hamas does. I vote yellow, I vote for the keffiyeh,” he said, pointing to his black-and-white checkered scarf, a symbol of Fatah along with its trademark color.

“You’re being a bit partisan,” his bearded colleague said.

“You’re with Hamas,” his friends retorted, laughing.