By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:
Yesterday Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, located just north of Jerusalem, just held student council elections.
Bir Zeit is the elite university for Palestinians. There are 9,000 undergrads and 1200 graduate students at the university. 47 BA degrees are offered and 26 MA degrees. The election drew 77% of the undergraduate student body.
The results are telling.
In student council at Bir Zeit University, Hamas defeated Fatah. Of the 51 council seats, Hamas' Wafaa party garnered 26. Fatah, the party begun under Yasser Arafat, will have only 19 seats.
Last year Fatah got 23 seats and Hamas 20.
This election was watched very closely by all Palestinian leaders and by Israel.
University elections often offer insight into the perspective of the population-at-large and are the first to show trends in future leadership, in business and in politics.
Winning an election at Bir Zeit, the heart of the West Bank, is a major victory for Hamas and a terrible blow to Fatah.
Hamas is on the rise. There is no possible way of interpreting this election any other way.
Micah@MicahHalpern.com
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