Citizens of the Palestinian Authority were allowed to vote for local officials on Saturday — but only to elect representatives for some 154 village councils in Judea and Samaria.
The Hamas terrorist organization that controls Gaza, but which has members in Judea and Samaria, contended that holding a municipal vote alone was a violation of prior agreements and boycotted the polls.
Residents of major Palestinian Authority cities were not eligible to vote, despite increasing anger building against the Fatah-led government.
That anger has been stoked by resident terrorist members, especially since the 11-day mini-war launched by Hamas against Israel this past May.
The recent death of Nizar Banat at the hands of Palestinian Authority security forces after vocal criticism of the Ramallah government, has further enraged grassroots citizens.
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the leading Fatah faction, has been in power since January 9, 2005 and was originally elected to head the government until January 15, 2009. On December 16, 2009 he was voted into office indefinitely by the PLO Central Council, which he also heads.
