Can elections end Palestinian division?
February 5, 2021 Share
For years pundits have argued that Palestinian elections cannot take place in the occupied territories until there is reconciliation between the warring factions of Fatah and Hamas. The conflict between them led to the creation of two parallel governments, with Fatah controlling the West Bank and Hamas in charge of Gaza. This situation produced parallel laws and, most importantly, parallel security forces. While these differences remain unresolved, elections, which were once considered impossible without reconciliation, are now being used to achieve reconciliation. On January 11, a Palestinian presidential decree announced legislative elections for May 22 to be followed by presidential elections on July 31. Elections were last held in 2006, when Palestinians elected a new Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with a Hamas majority. Elections that were supposed to be held in 2014 were suspended indefinitely due to
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