West Bank Student Elections Reveal Hamas’ Influence
While university student council elections in the West Bank were purely “theoretical” elections, they revealed the influence of Islamist factions among youth, writes Dalal Bajes.
The springtime student council elections at universities in the West Bank have ended, or almost have. Observers and journalists followed the event and its results first hand, although these were purely "theoretical" union elections.
However, Hamas viewed the results of these elections as an indicator of its size in the Palestinian arena, at a time when there are no other indications or elections, such as union, labor, municipal, legislative or other elections. As a result, Hamas should not be excluded from any political calculations. In 1992, the movement demanded 40% of seats in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Fatah rejected the demand, assuming that Hamas was requesting more than it deserved. Only a year later, the results of university elections proved that this was the least that Hamas could demand.
The first time that the Islamic Bloc ran in Palestinian university elections was at Birzeit University back in 1980. The Bloc received 40% of votes. In 1993, more than 12 union and student council elections were held, in which the percentage of votes in favor of the Islamic movement reached 40%.
Today, after attempts to exclude the movement in general and Islamic blocs in universities for six years, and to restrict all movements that support them in the West Bank, the percentage of votes in favor of the Islamic Bloc is 40%. If such is the case, it is not possible to talk about a decline in Hamas’ popularity and direction among Palestinians.
