Nablus - The results of the student union council elections at An-Najah National University in the northern West Bank city of Nablus showed the victory of the "Muslim Palestine Bloc", the student arm of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), in the elections held on Tuesday, ahead of 3 student blocs, most notably the "Martyrs Bloc", the student arm of the National Liberation Movement (Fatah).
Four student blocs—Muslim Palestine," the Martyrs Bloc, the Student Action Front bloc, the student arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Democratic Pole Alliance bloc—an alliance between the Progressive Student Union Bloc, the Democratic Pole Bloc, and the Student Struggle Bloc—all left-wing parties, competed for 4 seats that make up the General Conference of the Student Union Council.
The students went at half past eight this morning to cast their votes in 68 ballot boxes placed in the faculties of the university, and the voting process ended at half past three local time, after which the counting process began.
expressive video
Hamas Islamic Bloc wins #جامعة_النجاح elections in Nablus, West Bank
The interest in these elections is because it is an indicator
of the popular position between the option of armed
resistance and others. Especially in a university controlled by the organs of pic.twitter.com/eESRxTMPv9 authority
— Reda Yassin Reda Yasen (@RedaYasen2021) May 16, 2023
Years of absence
The Dean of Student Affairs, Muhammad Daqqa, announced in a press conference held at the old university building after the completion of the counting process that the Muslim Palestine bloc won 40 seats, the Martyrs bloc with 38 seats, and the Student Action Front bloc with 3 seats, and the Democratic Pole Alliance did not win, which did not reach all the votes of its voters to the percentage determined to resolve any seat.
Daqqa said that the four student blocs competed for 81 seats for the student council, and that the number of those entitled to vote is 22,169 students, while the number of valid votes reached 14,945 votes out of 15,480 voters, with a ballot rate of 69.8%.
The four competing student blocs showcased their election platforms at a speech festival organized by the university on Monday.
These elections come after 6 years of absence of elections at the university, where the last elections were held in 2017, in which the Martyrs Bloc won after obtaining 41 seats, while the Muslim Palestine Bloc won 34 seats, and the Student Left Bloc won 6 seats with a voting rate of 58.9%.
Students of the Islamic Bloc perform the prostration of thanks at An-Najah University #Nablus #فلسطين pic.twitter.com/9JWLbVDzsh
— Palestine__59__𓂆 (@59_palestine) May 16, 2023
Important indicators
These elections reflect at this time an important indicator of the orientation of Palestinian public opinion in the West Bank, which is experiencing a continuous state of resistance in all its forms, especially the armed groups that came out in Nablus, such as "Areen Al-Aswad" and the "Jenin Brigade" in Jenin refugee camp, and other resistance groups, which confronted the settlement and occupation project.
These elections also come after 6 years of interruption, which means the absence of an entire generation of students from exercising their democratic right to trade unions, which is inseparable from the political reality of the entire Palestinian situation.