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On April 25, local elections were held in the West Bank and in one municipality in Gaza: Deir al-Balah. 6,917 Palestinians ran as candidates on electoral lists in 381 electoral districts (villages or municipalities).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Voting took place in half of the electoral districts, where more than one list of candidates was presented. Turnout was 56% of the one million Palestinians eligible to vote. In Deir al-Balah, turnout was 22.7% (16,000 out of 70,000 voters). In the other half of the localities, no voting took place, as was the case in major cities such as Ramallah and Nablus. In East Jerusalem (Al-Quds ash-Sharqiya in Arabic), voting was prevented by the State of Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The elections were called by the Palestinian National Authority with the aim of regaining some legitimacy, as its policy of collaboration with the Israeli occupation is highly unpopular, having proven contrary to the interests of the majority of Palestinians. The sole beneficiary of this collaboration is the Palestinian bourgeoisie linked to the occupation\u2019s businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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To prevent its unpopularity from being reflected in the elections, the PNA imposed a rule requiring candidates to recognize the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people, as well as to recognize the State of Israel and the cooperation agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Hamas and the PFLP announced they would not participate in the elections. The DFLP criticized the move but participated on some independent slates. For its part, the People\u2019s Party (PPP, formerly the Communist Party) participated while attempting to distance itself from the Palestinian Authority government of which it is a part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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88% of the candidates ran as independents for electoral reasons, although many were members of Palestinian parties, primarily Fatah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Deir al-Balah, in Gaza, four lists ran. All were announced as independent, but in reality the \u201cRise of Deir al-Balah\u201d list, close to Fatah, won six of the 15 council seats, and \u201cDeir al-Balah Unites Us,\u201d closer to Hamas, won two seats. Of the independent lists, \u201cFuture of Deir al-Balah\u201d won 5 seats and \u201cPeace and Reconstruction\u201d won 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A development celebrated by women\u2019s rights activists was the election of 21.4% female council members, exceeding the 20% quota required by law. Among them were three female mayors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Despite the turnout, Palestinians\u2019 expectations regarding the councils and the PNA are low. On the one hand, the violence of the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank precludes any sense of normalcy. On the other hand, the experience with the collaborationist Palestinian Authority, whose president was elected in 2005 and the legislature in 2006, is very negative. Most Palestinians voted for practical reasons, since these councils are responsible for basic services such as garbage collection and water supply. But everyone knows that these elections are not part of a national liberation project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Any national liberation project must be based on the unity of the entire Palestinian people, currently divided by the Israeli occupation: approximately half live within occupied Palestine (the West Bank, Gaza, Al-Quds, and Palestine of 1948) and the other half in the diaspora or as refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The elections could be a powerful tool for revitalizing the Palestinian national movement and for debating and deciding the course of the struggle for national liberation. The PLO would have all the means to organize such elections, registering all Palestinian families, organizing free debates, and holding virtual elections worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The point is that the current leadership would be swept away and the unpopular project of cooperation with the Israeli occupation would be buried. Hence the lack of interest among PLO leaders in holding them. The Zionists, too, have no interest in facing a renewed Palestinian national movement with new strategies of struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The policy of normalization with the State of Israel, embodied in the 1993 Oslo Accords, has proven to be a failure for the Palestinians, who are experiencing an expansion of colonization combined with the genocidal violence of the Israeli army and Zionist settlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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On the other hand, the policy of resistance has resulted in the loss of legitimacy of the State of Israel in the eyes of peoples around the world, particularly in the Western imperialist countries that are its main supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This delegitimization of Zionism benefits the Palestinian resistance, as well as the weakening of Israel following the military aggression against Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The strengthening of the Palestinian resistance, armed or otherwise, together with the working class and youth of Arab countries and around the world, is the path to achieving a free Palestine, from the river to the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The elections were called by the Palestinian National Authority with the aim of regaining some legitimacy, as its policy of collaboration with the Israeli occupation is highly unpopular, having proven contrary to the interests of the majority of Palestinians. The sole beneficiary of this collaboration is the Palestinian bourgeoisie linked to the occupation\u2019s businesses.<\/p>\n
88% of the candidates ran as independents for electoral reasons, although many were members of Palestinian parties, primarily Fatah.<\/p>\n
In Deir al-Balah, in Gaza, four lists ran. All were announced as independent, but in reality the \u201cRise of Deir al-Balah\u201d list, close to Fatah, won six of the 15 council seats, and \u201cDeir al-Balah Unites Us,\u201d closer to Hamas, won two seats. Of the independent lists, \u201cFuture of Deir al-Balah\u201d won 5 seats and \u201cPeace and Reconstruction\u201d won 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":75998,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"litci_post_political_author":"Fabio Bosco","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3710,2,3714],"tags":[3925,2541,3722],"class_list":["post-75997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine","category-featured","category-middle-east","tag-elections","tag-gaza","tag-palestine"],"yoast_head":"\n