Despite the advance polls, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad managed to score a massive victory against Mir Hossein Moussavi, garnering 62.63% of the votes to Moussavi’s 33.75%. CNN reports:

Moussavi and supporters in the Tehran streets are crying foul as street clashes have erupted in the aftermath of the polls. Reaction emerged across the world, as countries such as the United States and Canada voiced concern over claims of voter irregularities… The ongoing street protests have been viewed as remarkable in a country where anti-government sentiment is not looked upon kindly by those in power. In the aftermath of the vote, street protesters and riot police engaged in running battles, with stones thrown, garbage cans set on fire and people shouting “death to the dictatorship.”

Daily Kos reports, based on news coming out of various independant Iranian Web sites, that Moussavi has been placed under house arrest, that telephone contact between Tehran and the rest of Iran has been completely cut off and former President Rafsanjani has resigned all duties in protest of Supreme Leader Khamenei’s endorsement of Ahmadinejad as winner of yesterday’s election.

Wow. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Flickr Gallery of joyful Iranians celebrating the victory of Democracy and the reelection of President Ahmadinejad! Not wanting the happy people of Iran to be distracted, the government in it’s wisdom and benevolence has cut off the country’s Internet access. Access will be restored once all enemies are jailed or killed err… joyful, ecstatic celebrations have subsided.

Sunday was Lebanon’s election day. Two factionswere running; the 14 March Coalition and the 8 March Coalition. The Pro-Western 14 March Coalition is comprised of the Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, Christian Lebanese Forces, and the Christian Phalangist Party. The pro-Syrian/Iranian 8 March Coalition is comprised of Hezbollah, Amal, and the Free Patriotic Movement, 2 Shia and 1 Christian parties.

Resultslate last night showed the 14 March Coalition as being in the lead, with final results expected this afternoon. As of last night, the polls showed 67 to March 14, 58 to March 8, two to independents, and another seven undecided. The Christian vote seemed to be evenly split between the 14 March, mostly Christian, Coalition, and the 8 March Coalition, with the [Christian] Free Patriotic Movement party. This shows a minor setback for Hezbollah, and may perhaps have implications as to the wishes of the Lebanese people. However, with only 52% of the eligible voters voting, it is difficult to tell the “will of the people” simply from the elections.

It is important to note that already the population is approximately 60% Muslim and 39% Christian, with the Shia as the largest growing religious group in Lebanon. The mixed Christian and Sunni coalition managed to pull of the majority in the elections. This, however, does not mean the end to civil strife in Lebanon, as the victory will not reach an overwhelming majority, which would simplify governance. As such, Hezbollah and its supporters will control a strong and substantial majority in Parliament, making pro-Western legislation difficult. Moreover, given the Hezbollah still militarily controls the South of Lebanon, it will be difficult fo rthe new government to impose any laws in that region.

Yet, the key to this whole story is that the voting went off democratically, as Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said, “I present this victory to Lebanon. It is an exceptional day for democracy in Lebanon.”

So many losses of endowments of Jewish philanthropies. Travel Agents killed en route to Eilat because a idiot bus driver was filled with macho road rage. Netanyahu has an Obama like webpage. Shas is running on the slogan of change. What is the next outrage?

Move over Obama Girl… Livni has a boy

Livni Boy:

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Looks like Nir Barkat is going to win. Phew… Despite efforts to get folks out to vote, early reports were that the turnout was low. This was seen as detrimental to city counselor Nir Barkat’s campaign. However, a recently released Channel 1 poll shows that Barkat is likely to win with 50% of the vote to Haredi candidate Meir Porush’s 42%. I’m hoping those numbers hold up.

There have already been allegations of election day shenanigans – a police man was injured by a group of haredim who were trying to prevent people from voting. The Barkat campaign is also alleging that Barkat ballots had been stolen from a polling station. These sorts of shenanigans have left a bad taste in my mouth – on several nights last week I’ve witnessed Yeshiva students tearing down and even burning Barkat posters at Machane Yehuda. At one point they even assaulted (!!) an old man passing by who tried to photograph what they were doing. I’m appalled of course and Porush will never get my vote – but I am still hoping that this kind of thuggery is exceptional and that most of our Haredi neighbors are law abiding citizens who don’t condone this sort of behavior.

UPDATE: As of 2:40 am Jerusalem time, with 118 of 707 polling stations counted, Barkat had received 46% of the votes, Porush 27%, Gaydamak 21%. Dan Biron, the Marijuana Leaf candidate got 1%. So far Barkat is doing a little less than what was predicted, Porush is tanking and Gaydamak is doing surprisingly well. But given the stratified nature of Jerusalem’s neighborhoods, anything is still possible. It’s going to be a long night, but at least Barkat seems to be well on his way to a victory. The final tally of eligible voters who voted is 41% – 3% more than voted in the last election. It’s an improvement of course, but given the tremendous efforts made to get the voters out by all parties involved, the low turnout might symbolize voter apathy and lack of faith in their municipal government. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come when the national elections take place in February….

FINAL UPDATE: Yup. Despite the low voter turnout it looks as if Nir Barkat is about to be declared the winner of this election and the next Mayor of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post now reports that with 264 of 707 polling stations’ votes counted, Barkat has received 52% of the vote, MK Meir Porush of the United Torah Judaism Party 38%, and Israeli-Russian billionaire tycoon Arcadi Gaydamak 6.5%. Barkat is set to give a victory speech at his headquarters off of Emek Refaim street shortly.

Uh… the banner above contains 2 beloved characters from the Shabot 6000, a goofy Rabbi and an irreverent robot. It also contains 2 characters from South Park – Mrs. Broflovski, Kyle’s Mom and the matriarch of South Park’s token Jew family, and Eric Cartman who is just so damned cool, even though he’s a Jew baiter. The fifth character in the middle is Meir Porush, who was selected by the United Torah Judaism party to run as Mayor of Jerusalem. So what is that? Why is he a cartoon character? Am I going to link to a funny viral video dealing with Jerusalem city politics? No. That’s the image Porush’s campaign has decided to plaster everywhere in Jerusalem in order to promote Porush’s candidacy.

And why not? He looks cute and warm and fuzzy. Not at all threatening! Porush who supported the decision to force prepubescent female dancers to wear what looked like burqas during their performance commemorating the opening of Jerusalem’s light rail bridge, is a good guy! For instance he’d like to reverse the trends that have seen 300,000 young Israelis abandon Jerusalem over the past 20 years for greener pastures elsewhere – better jobs, affordable rents etc. It’s not like they left Jerusalem because of the undue influence of guys that look exactly like him… and he has a Web site – http://www.porush.co.il – but don’t bother clicking on the link – with less than a month to go before the elections, the site is still under construction. It don’t matter none though. Haredim, who will form the bulk of those likely to vote for Porush, don’t usually have internet access. Well not at home anyway – but at night in Jerusalem, the Internet Cafes, especially those that offer private booths, are full of Haredim using the Internets. But I have a feeling they’re not exactly brushing up on municipal issues, if you know what I mean…

The elections will be held in November and we know Porush is running, as is city counselor and Internet entrepreneur Nir Barakat and maybe even Russian Billionaire, Angolan Diplomat, Israeli Philanthropist and subject of an INTERPOL arrest warrant Arkady Gaydamak. Lupiolanski, the current Haredi Mayor of Jerusalem may also throw his shtreimel in. Did I mention that the election is in less than a month???

Somehow cartoons seem oddly appropriate… I’m not voting for Porush because like… “Mayor Meir Porush” – how awkward is that??

Hey, remember the Polish Presidential elections back in 1990? Lech Walesa was running against Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and this Canadian emigré Stanislaw Tyminski. The election was notable in that it was Poland’s first free election in 68 years. Also notable was the fact that attempts were made to discredit candidates by accusing them of being Jewish. Thus we were witness to the spectacle of great men like Walesa, and others vying to lead Poland in the post-Communist era, having to declare that they were in fact not Jewish – as if Judaism was some kind of distasteful stain that obviously rendered someone, ipso facto, unfit for office. I felt this was very distasteful at the time and reminded me that anti-Semitism was still a fact of life in Poland, despite only a handful of Jews remaining in the country after the Holocaust.

I felt the same unease the other day when I read Barack Obama’s declaration, “I am a Christian” in response to a persistent email campaign accusing him of being a Muslim. I was further horrified after reading of a letter penned by a slew of Jewish leaders (William Daroff, vice president of United Jewish Communities; Nathan J. Diament, director of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League; Richard S. Gordon, president of the American Jewish Congress; David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee; Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center; Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Phyllis Snyder, president of the National Council of Jewish Women; and Hadar Susskind, Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs) urging their “constituents” to ignore the slanderous accusations contained in the emails.

Look, I know everyone means well. Obama wanted to correct inaccurate biographical information. The aforementioned self-appointed Jewish leaders (none of whom I ever voted for) want to make sure that Jewish people make election decisions based on accurate information. But seriously though… what the fuck? For starters, the United States is supposed to be a country wherein there is a separation of Church and State. A candidate’s religion ought to be irrelevant. More pernicious though is the implication that Islam in the US in 2008 is a stain, like Judaism was in Poland in 1990, that will automatically render a candidate unfit for office. The involvement of our unelected Jewish leaders in the strident denial of Obama’s crypto-Islamism also implies that Jews are particularly susceptible to this sort of prejudicial thinking.

I’m not going to ever support any Republican candidate just because she may be Jewish. No matter how many Jewish advisers and MPs Canadian Conservative PM Stephen Harper surrounds himself with, I’d still never vote Conservative. A candidate for political office’s religious orientation ought to be irrelevant in and of itself unless said candidate was running on a religious platform. Obama should have bravely declared that his religious beliefs are irrelevant and that even if he were a Muslim, this ought not impact on people’s decisions. Whatever. I’m not voting for him anyway.