Hamas' student cell won the elections held Wednesday at Birzeit University, one of the largest and leading campuses of Palestinians in the West Bank. After the votes were counted, the results were published heralding the victory of the terrorist organization, which won 25 seats, thus beating Fatah's student list, which received only 20 seats. The rest of the votes went mainly to the Palestinian left-wing parties.
Elections for the student union at the university north of Ramallah got underway this morning with three main lists vying for 51 seats. Most of the competition was between the list affiliated with Hamas' student cell and Fatah's. Voter turnout this year was particularly high, standing at 77% of the approximately 12,<> eligible students.
Student Union elections at Birzeit University, photo: Palestinian networks
The results were preceded by tumultuous campaigns conducted by representatives of both lists during the campus election campaign. It seems that the competition between the two sides, Hamas and Fatah, focused on the question of who was more extreme vis-à-vis Israel, with each list trying to present a more militant stance towards Israel in order to win the public's sympathy.
Hamas' campaign stressed the involvement of the organization's operatives in the fighting in the Gaza Strip and in carrying out terrorist attacks against Israel. Hamas students mocked Fatah's list and criticized Mahmoud Abbas' security coordination policy, accusing the Palestinian Authority's security forces of collaborating with Israel.
Fatah's students, for their part, boasted that operatives of "Arin al-Aswad" and Fatah's "Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades" were involved in attacks against Israel.
Birzeit University, photo: Hanna Kreitem/From Wikipedia
This is the second consecutive year that Hamas has won elections on the Birzeit campus. In the student union elections held last year, Hamas's list beat Fatah's with a landslide victory of 28 seats compared to only 18 for Mahmoud Abbas' movement.
This is the second significant achievement for Hamas on campuses in Judea and Samaria within a week. In the elections held last week at Anjah University in Nablus, the Hamas student cell won after winning 40 seats to Fatah's 38.
Mahmoud Abbas. Losing support, Photo: AP
The election results do not indicate "the end of Mahmoud Abbas' rule," but indicate a continued rise in Hamas' popularity in the West Bank. Opinion polls published over the past two years indicate a decline in support for Mahmoud Abbas in Palestinian public opinion, which explains the PA chairman's lack of enthusiasm to hold general elections for the movement's leadership.
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