While the US House of Representatives was expected to approve Thursday a resolution calling to ban Hamas from taking part in the Palestinian elections, the party swept primaries in both Nablus and Jenin. According to results published early Friday, Hamas won the Palestinian Authority primaries in Nablus with 73 percent of the vote, marking victory in 11 out of 13 districts. Hamas also swept Jenin. Fatah, the ruling Palestinian party, retained only 13 percent of the vote in Nablus.
In Ramallah, preliminary results show a victory for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, while the Fatah - running on three separate lists in the city - has taken only some 40% of the vote, Israel Radio reported. On Thursday, efforts were still underway to persuade jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti to abandon his decision to run in next month's parliamentary elections at the head of a new list.
Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in Israel for his role in terror attacks, dropped an electoral bombshell late Wednesday night when he announced, through his wife, Fadwa, that he would contest the vote at the head of a new list called al-Mustaqbal (The Future). Barghouti's decision is also seen by many Palestinians as an attempt to stage a bloodless coup against the representatives of the old guard, including Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other top Fatah officials.
Fatah's problems appeared to be worsening on Thursday night, when exit polls and initial counts following municipal elections in several major West Bank cities indicated big victories for Hamas. In Nablus, Hamas was heading for as much as 80 percent of the vote. In El-Bireh, Hamas was at 53%, with Fatah on 27%, according to the Palestinian Center of Policy and Survey Research. In Jenin, Hamas was on 43%, compared to 42% for Fatah and other groups. Only in Ramallah was Fatah maintaining a narrow lead, 34% to 31%.
It should be noted that Ramallah used to be a Fatah stronghold, and who would have thought that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine would be making a come back?
On a lighter note, the Jerusalem Post is also reporting that Iran is developing longer-range missiles with the potential to reach European shores. If President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran could be induced to comment, no doubt he would assure the Europeans that the Iranian long range missle program has only peaceful civilian applications.
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