Welcome to The Micah Report, my ruminations on Israel, terror & security and the Middle East as well as politics and world events. Thanks for stopping by.

I've been thinking:
Why is Marwan Barghouti not standing for election in the PA?

Don't say the reason is because he's in prison. That's irrelevant. It would not have been the first time that prisoners ran for election. Or won.

And if Barghouti actually won, it would be a sharp slap in the face to Israel.

The former head of the Tanzim says that he is withdrawing his candidacy because he wants a single candidate from the Fatah party in the election. That's disturbing. Even more disturbing is that this is the second time someone has withdrawn a candidacy for that reason. Last week Mohammad Dahlan did the same.

What the people really need to know is that:
democracy is not what happens in Egypt but in Europe
democracy means multiple candidates
democracy means debates and even primaries
Otherwise, it's all a sham. Like electing a prisoner.