SIX Irish politicians will be joining an estimated 800 election monitors in Palestine today. They and other Irish observers are part of the international contribution to the first democratic elections in the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr Eamon Walsh TD of Labour will be stationed in Bethlehem. Senators John Dardis and Bill Cotter (both PD), and Mr Noel Davern TD of Fianna Fail, will be in Jericho and East Jerusalem.
The Democratic Left TD, Mr Eric Byrne, and Fianna Fail's Senator Michael Lanigan will be based in Nablus. Senator Lanigan has championed the cause of Palestine and the PLO in Ireland for many years.
The 800 monitors are being coordinated by the European Union election unit, which has sent 300 observers. The management team includes three Irish citizens. Col Michael Shannon, who is retired, is in charge of logistics and communications and also liaises with the Israeli military. He also was a monitor in the South African elections. Mr Declan Greenway" from Kinsale, Co Cork, is the unit's security adviser in Gaza. He served for six years with the United Nations in the Middle East.
Mr Raymond Dolphin from Clontarf, Dublin, has previously worked with the UN in the, Middle East, and is in charge of coordinating the monitoring process in Bethlehem and Hebron. Hebron is expected to be one of, the most tense areas as Israeli troops are still in the town to protect 400 Jewish settlers who live in the middle of this Arab town.
The other monitors from Ireland include local government workers, civil servants and two RTE producers, Ms Mary McCabe and Ms Barbara O'Shea. Both are veterans of elections in Cambodia and South Africa.
There are also delegations from several Arab countries and from Russia, Canada and the United States. Among the US monitors is a former president, Mr Jimmy Carter.
There are just over a million registered voters. While the turnout is expected to be high, the situation in East Jerusalem is still confused.
The seven seats for which Palestinian inhabitants of Jerusalem will vote will represent a city which will not be part of the new Palestine. It is believed that the registration of voters in Jerusalem is low as many Palestinians feared registering to vote could jeopardise their rights within Israel.
One of the Irish monitors, Ms Marie Meegan, a parliamentary assistant to Mr Austin Currie TD, had to spend much of her time ensuring that those voting in Jerusalem would be able to do so in secrecy.
The only facility the Israeli authorities would allow for the voting was post offices. This has allowed them to maintain the fiction that those voting in Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its capital are actually exercising a postal vote.