A student list affiliated with Hamas on Wednesday came out on top in the closely-watched student elections at Birzeit University near Ramallah.The PFLP and DFLP are also terror groups just like Hamas and Fatah.
A day after thousands turned out for a student debate between Fatah, Hamas, and the leftist parties participating, the Islamic List emerged victorious with 26 seats, while the Fatah-affiliated list trailed with 19.
The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine list emerged with five, while an alliance of three smaller leftist parties – the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian People’s Party, and Fida -- took one seat.
There aren't exactly any "pro-peace" parties in the areas under PA control.
Voter turnout was reported at 77 percent of all undergraduate students entitled to vote, who numbered around 9,000.In 2007, Birzeit held a photo exhibit celebrating suicide bombers and their Jewish victims.
The victory for the Islamic List at the historically staunchly pro-Fatah campus took observers by surprise.
In the absence of regular national elections, university elections are seen as important indicators of public opinion by political commentators in Palestine and Birzeit is considered to be the most important campus in the yearly political contests.
The Hamas victory came after a year in which the Fatah-affiliated list dominated student politics, having earned 23 seats compared to the Hamas list's 20 seats.
They held another "art exhibit" celebrating terror in 2012:
The overwhelming support for terror in Arab universities under PA control is one of the more under-reported stories in the media.