Results of the UNRWA Union Elections: VICTORY for HAMAS

Source: Al-Watan (Kuwait) 11 June, 2003 www.al-watan.com/data/20030611/index.asp?content=outstate2

Hamas followers won a remarkable victory in the elections to the clerks union of UNRWA in the Gaza strip gaining 23 out of the 27 seats. 6780 from among entitled 7616 clerks participated in the voting. Hamas followers achieved also 6 (out of 7) seats in the workers sector, 6 seats (out of 9) in the services sector and all 11 seats in the teachers sector. Their victory enables them to form the executive committee of the union comprising 9 members.

Source: Filastin Al-Muslima (Lebanon) July 2003, p.5. www.fm-m.com2003jul2003pdfp5.pdf

The Islamic Bloc affiliated with the Hamas movement won an overwhelming victory in the elections to the clerks [union] of UNRWA held on the 9th June 2003. More than 8000 clerks from teachers, services and workers sectors participated in the voting. The Hamas organization which gained 23 seats out of 27 in the elections to the three mentioned sectors, considered this victory as a evidence to the ‘popular backing’ of the Hamas and its ideology advocating the continuous armed struggle against Israeli occupation.

The Islamic Bloc in the teachers sector gained all 11 seats allocated to this sector. Its candidates in the northern districts of [the] Gaza [strip] won 91.7% of the total vote. In Gaza [city] and Shati [refugee camp] areas they gained 57.04%; in central districts 88.04%; in Khan Yunis district 92.03% and in Rafah district 81.06%.

In the elections to the services sector the Islamic Bloc gained 6 seats out of the 9 allocated to all Gazan districts, while in the worker sector it achieved 6 out of 7 seats. Yusouf Abu Zubaida, the Islamic Bloc’s candidate in Rafah district, attained 45.74% of the vote. Abd Aziz Daber, its candidate in Khan Yunis district won 60.07% of the vote. In Dir Al-Balah the Islamic Bloc candidate failed to win a majority. Muhamad Darwish, the PFLP’s candidate won the election gaining 63.03% of the vote.

The Islamic Bloc candidates in Nuseart (Ala Jaber) and Al-Bureij (Zaki Shoubier) won the election with 50.06 % and 43.84% respectively. Amir Atallah won a noticeable achievement in the election in the Shati refugee camp gaining 100% of the vote. Maher Zaqout, another candidate of the Islamic Bloc, achieved 85.85% of the votes in the northern districts of [the] Gaza [strip].

This is the Islamic Bloc’s consecutive fourth victory since 1990 in the elections to the UNRWA clerks’ union…Suhail Al-Hindi, who was elected in the teachers’ sector as a representative of the Islamic Bloc, emphasized in response to the Islamic Bloc’s decisive victory, the [broad] scope of support the Islamic movement enjoys in the ‘Palestinian street’…He considered this victory as evidence of the “Palestinian Street support for this movement [Hamas] and its rejection to Abu Mazen’s policy toward the cessation of the resistance against Israeli occupation”….The organizations which participated in the elections are: The Islamic Bloc [Hamas], the Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Palestinian Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP) and the Fatah movement.