Election day is looming in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and like it or not, Palestinians are abuzz.

Rumors are floating about everywhere as to just how these elections for the next leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the first since 1996, will be run. The atmosphere in East Jerusalem, where I have been staying for the last twenty-four hours, is much different than the rest of the country. In East Jerusalem, life seems to carry on as usual, but aside from the random conversations here and there (even to a non-Arabic speaker, you hear the names Abu Mazen and Barghouti floating about), there are no signs of the election.

Perhaps it is because many Palestinian Jerusalemites, living in Israeli-annexed Jerusalem, are worried that their privileges as Israeli ID-holders will be revoked if they vote. The IDF soldiers are rumored to be spreading this around. Perhaps it is the fact that the polling stations in Jerusalem will be located in Israeli post offices which potentially can’t even accommodate the 120 000 eligible Palestinian voters in the city. Perhaps it is just that many don’t see any use in voting. Can you blame them?

Richard Gere seems to certainly want Palestinians to get out and vote. The celebrity has been visiting Israel for the past few weeks, and took time to make a televised ad encouraging voters to make their voices heard. "We're with you during this election time. It's really important. Get out and vote," he urges, with his million dollar smile.
Being in the West Bank, one can notice a severe disconnect from the people and the PA. The outskirts of Ramallah, the West Bank’s political center and home of the late Yasser Arafat, are shocking to first-time visitors from the West. Crowded, littered with garbage, and barren. Driving into downtown Ramallah, it’s a different story. The city is bustling, and there are elections posters everywhere, 90% of them cheering on Mahmoud Abbas. He is tomorrow’s favored winner. There are other funnier posters. One is for Mustafa Barghouti, who is trailing Abbas in a distant second. Barghouti was arrested not long ago outside the Damascus gate in East Jerusalem by the IDF, and the photo on his campaign poster depicts the event. With a riffle to his head, Barghouti has his hands in the air as if to say, “Vote for me!