Henry Lowi likens the upcoming Palestinian elections to prisoners electing representatives to interact with the prison administration over the conditions of their incarceration and outlines the role of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and democrats in this "election" period.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) elections, now scheduled for January 2005, have nothing in common with a free people democratically electing a sovereign government.

These "elections" have more in common with prisoners and detainees in Ketziot, Ofer and other Israeli prisons and detention centres electing their committee, or spokesperson, to interact with the prison administration over the conditions of their incarceration. Palestinian prisoners and former prisoners have rich experience in such prisoner elections. There is nothing wrong with participating in such elections, as long as the true issues at stake are understood.

Israeli Jewish peace activists and democrats have a democratic duty to remove the undemocratic burden of oppression from the Palestinian Arabs, and to create conditions where all Palestinians can freely exercise their right to self-determination.

In this "election" period, Israeli peace activists and democrats should agitate aggressively for the following demands:

• End the occupation unconditionally. Remove the Israeli army, police, and security agencies from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and all other areas inhabited by Arabs.
• Release Marwan Barghouti and all other political prisoners unconditionally.
• Permit the Palestinian refugees to return and participate in determining the future of their country.
• Activists for Palestinian rights should emphasize the true nature of these "elections", and should focus on the above three-point programme and, in addition, on the following:
• For elections to a sovereign, democratic constituent assembly (ijtima'a ta'sisi, or majlis ta'sisi) to determine the future of the country and its people.

Except for acting vigourously to remove the undemocratic yoke from the oppressed Palestinians, Israeli Jewish activists have no role in these elections.

Except to show the way forward to new, democratic norms of coexistence, Palestinian democrats have no interest in these elections.