JERUSALEM (JTA) — A former Israeli Jew was elected to the Palestinian Fatah Party’s governing body.
Uri Davis, 66, a sociology professor at Al-Quds University in eastern Jerusalem, is the first Jew ever to become a member of the Revolutionary Council. Elections were held last week during Fatah’s sixth party congress, its first in 20 years. The official list of winners of elections to the Revolutionary Council was published Saturday.
Davis was among more than 600 candidates for 80 open spots on the 128-member governing body. At least 70 of the seats were taken by new members, 20 come from Gaza, 11 are women and four are Christians.
Davis received Palestinian citizenship after waiving his Israeli citizenship in the 1980s in protest over Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank.
On Aug. 13, all of Fatah’s leaders in Gaza reportedly quit over alleged irregularities in elections also held at the congress for the 18-member Central Committee, the party”s highest decision-making body.
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