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The Islamic Bloc, a Hamas student body, yesterday won a landslide victory in the Student Council of Birzeit University in the north of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
According to a university statement, the Islamic Bloc won 5,068 votes compared to 3,379 votes for the Yasser Arafat Bloc affiliated to Fatah.
The Islamic Bloc took 28 seats of the 51 on the student council, while the Yasser Arafat Bloc won only 18 seats despite severe restrictions imposed by the Palestinian Authority on the members and Islamic Bloc’s activists.
Birzeit was a Fatah stronghold. In the last elections held in 2019, both parties garnered 23 seats.
Deputy Head of Hamas’ Political Bureau, Saleh Al-Arouri, said: “The achievement of the democratic elections in Birzeit University elections proves our ability, despite the differences, to achieve transparent elections that reflect our Palestinian people’s will.”
READ: Birzeit University launches scholarship, journalism award in honour of Shireen Abu Akleh