| "Sorry. We don't do elections. We do explosives." |
The Islamic Jihad has urged its followers not to participate in the forthcoming Palestinian elections, becoming the second resistance group in as many days to dismiss the poll. Muhammed al-Hindi, the Gaza leader of Islamic Jihad, said on Thursday the group had decided not to field any candidate in the 9 January election to replace Yasir Arafat and not to support any independent candidate either. Al-Hindi urged his followers and Palestinians in general not to participate in the poll because it cannot be truly free. "The Palestinian people who are living under occupation want to have a real election, a free and fair election in a free, liberated land. We cannot say the upcoming presidential election is like this," he said. The refusal of Islamic Jihad to back the election came a day after Hamas announced it would not field a candidate for the election. However, it left open the possibility of supporting an independent candidate.