Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium. Photo: Lyulyev Danny via Wikimedia Commons

The Jerusalem municipal elections are scheduled for October 31, 2023, but the Palestinian Authority (PA) is already warning Arab residents of Jerusalem against participating as candidates or voters.

In fact, the Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council has issued a fatwa — an Islamic religious ruling — prohibiting participation in the elections, stating that it “constitutes a violation of religious law”:

Headline: “The [Palestinian Supreme] Fatwa Council bans participating in the elections of the occupation’s municipality in Jerusalem,both as candidates and as voters”

Text: “The Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council confirmed the fatwa that it issued, which bans participating or running in the elections for the occupation’s municipality in Jerusalem. It explained that this constitutes a violation of religious law and of the national consensus.” [emphasis added]

[WAFA, official PA news agency, June 15, 2023]

Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the PA Supreme Shariah Judge and PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations, stressed that any participation in the elections “constitutes a betrayal of Allah,” as well as of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad and “the blood of the Martyrs, and the sacrifice of the Jihad fighters”:

Al-Habbash expressed appreciation for the fatwa issued by the Palestinian [Supreme] Fatwa Council, which defined participation in these elections as a crime, because it constitutes a violation of the national position and recognition of the occupation’s legitimacy. He emphasized that this also constitutes a betrayal of Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad], the blood of the Martyrs, and the sacrifice of the Jihad fighters carrying out Ribat [i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic]. [emphasis sadded]

[Ma’an, independent Palestinian news agency, June 20, 2023]

Abbas’ advisor’s words that participating in the elections constitutes “recognition of the occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] legitimacy,” is consistent with the PA and Fatah’s denial of Israel’s right to exist: “Israel’s very existence contradicts international law.” [Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Oct. 10, 2022]

Al-Habbash also stated that anyone who takes part in the elections “will lose his national identity and his Palestinian affiliation.”

One person who might decide to go against the fatwa is Israeli Arab lawyer Walid Abu Tayeh, who has announced his “intention to run for mayor” and argued why:

In an editorial published in the Al Quds daily explaining his decision, Abu Tiya wrote, “the only way to force Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and establish a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel is to appeal to the residents of East Jerusalem to vote and participate in the municipal elections, because the only force that threatens the existence of the State of Israel is the demographic force.”

Abu Tayeh asked PA leader Abbas for his “blessing and consent” for his and other Jerusalem Arabs’ participation in the elections, and summarized Abbas’ five-point answer as follows:

First, Jerusalem is a complicated topic. Second, it is better to focus on matters of routine life and distance oneself from political matters in Jerusalem. Third, the PLO and the [Palestinian] Authority will not give him [sic., me, Abu Tayeh] a green light to participate in the municipal elections. Fourth, he [sic., I, Abu Tayeh] must learn from the experience of the Palestinians in the territories of Palestine that have been occupied since 1948 [i.e., Israel]. Fifth, it would be better to hold a discussion to reach a national agreement regarding participation or non-participation.

[Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), June 16, 2023]

Despite Abbas’ answer that Abu Tayeh would “not get the green light” from the PLO and the PA, Abu Tayeh wrote on social media on June 13, 2023, that he had information that the PA authorities “do not oppose” participation in the elections.

It has been learned from knowledgeable sources that the official Palestinian bodies do not oppose [participation in the elections], and that they will not intervene if Palestinian figures who are Jerusalem residents with Israeli passports participate in the Jerusalem municipal elections.

[Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), June 16, 2023]

Abu Tayeh added that “this position constitutes a pragmatic turning point” in the PA’s attitude to participation in the elections.

It seems that Abu Tayeh’s interpretation of the PA’s stand on this question prompted the Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council to issue the explicit fatwa on June 15, 2023, forbidding any participation in the elections.

Palestinian Media Watch documented a similar PA prohibition against participation in the Jerusalem municipal elections in 2018, which the Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council said at the time was “forbidden by religious law.” Those threats were a success, as only 1.5% of Jerusalem Arabs voted in the elections.

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.