Agencies-Gaza post
Outrage, shock among Fatah members over Birzeit University student elections loss
The crushing loss of the Fatah-backed bloc in Birzeit University student council elections this week caused shock and outrage among members and supporters of the movement, which is aligned with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
In the wake of defeat, one of the heaviest, Fatah says it will form a committee to study the cause of the loss and draw lessons from it.
Rivals of the Fatah bloc, a Hamas-linked activist group, took a landslide victory in the poll of the West Bank’s flagship university, a result some observers believe signals a possible change in Palestinian public opinion.
The loss is believed to be Fatah’s largest since Hamas’s defeat in the 2005 legislative elections.
Fatah has led the Palestinian struggle since its launch in 1965 and has formed the ruling Palestinian Authority party since its establishment in 1994.
However, the Fatah bloc won the fewest votes and seats since the start of university elections in 1996, prompting the head of the Fatah movement in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, Muwafaq Suhwail, to step down.
Other members of the Fatah leadership in Ramallah are expected to step down in the coming days due to calls for an investigation into the defeat.
Suhwail called for an investigation into the election result, arguing that the movement was full of “mercenaries and intruders”.
Hamas, meanwhile, said its victory sends “a message to the Palestinian Authority that coordinating security will not bring rights to the Palestinian people.”
The group said that “the broad support confirms that he has become a leader of the national project and the resistance has become the choice of the Palestinian people.”
The loss of Fatah will henceforth discourage the Palestinian Authority from organizing legislative or presidential elections of any kind. The last legislative elections were scheduled in early 2005.
Hamas’s Al-Wafaa Islamic bloc won Birzeit University elections by a large margin, claiming 28 seats on the student council, the first time its candidates have gained control of the body. The Fatah movement only won 18 seats.
Fatah is reportedly trying to distance itself from the Palestinian Authority.
However, supporters of the movement blame the electoral loss for the errors of the authority, as well as its policies towards Israel and Palestinian citizens.
In an online post, former Hamas minister Mohammed Al-Barghouti wrote: “It is no longer convincing to try to convince people, especially university students, that the Palestinian Authority is one thing and the Fatah movement is another. , above all because the head of the Fatah movement – the president of the Palestinian Authority – and the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization are the same president ”.
Al-Barghouti said that all the “negatives and misfortunes of the PA are supported and paid for by the Fatah movement”.
In return, he said that “all the privileges and benefits of the PA go to a few beneficiaries, most of whom are not of the Fatah movement and have never been among its cadres.”
Fatah needs to make bold decisions and develop a well-thought-out structure if it is to restore its image and build trust, he said.
One of the leaders of the Fatah movement in the West Bank, Walid Assaf, former head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, wrote: “When successes are held accountable and failures rewarded, the price will be heavy for Fatah and the national project. “.
Ahmed Ghuneim, a prominent Fatah leader in East Jerusalem, told Arab News: “Fatah cannot continue like this. It is time for a firm and courageous decision to be made to stop this collapse and for the central committee to take responsibility for Fatah’s weakness ”.
He added: “We in Fatah are paying the price for failed decisions in the Palestinian Authority’s political, governmental, organizational and economic performance and leadership. This leadership knows and realizes that it is a problem, but they insist that they remain in power and lead us from defeat to defeat ”.
However, Lieutenant General Jibril Rajoub, secretary general of the Fatah Central Committee, told Arab News that a meeting of the committee on Saturday will consider the defeat and make the necessary decisions.
“Our experience with this leadership is that they don’t value any losses and, if that happens, they don’t take measures but blame the lower levels of the movement for their mistakes.”
Nasser Al-Kidwa, the former Palestinian foreign minister fired by Fatah from Abbas after criticizing the policies of the PA leader, told Arab News from his home in France: “The votes that went to Hamas don’t necessarily mean that they support its policy, but rather punish Fatah, which deserves punishment because it has committed enough mistakes to turn Palestinian public opinion against it ”.
