Fatah

As Abbas tightens control, Western governments are applauding a Palestinian political system that has denied elections for 20 years.

Fifty-nine candidates competed for 18 seats on the Central Committee, while 456 members competed for 80 seats on the Revolutionary Council, which serves as the movement's parliament.

Samer Sinijlawi told The Jerusalem Post that Western Leaders need to stop pushing the idea that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is the moderate choice.

Raed Abduljalil told participants of the Palestinian Cultural Resistance Festival, that their actions were "an essential part of the battle we are waging against the occupation and its supporters."

Fatah said it won most local councils, including Jenin, where the Palestinian Authority was previously accused of losing control to Hamas-linked Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

It will be Gaza's first vote of any kind since 2006, when Hamas won the PA's legislative elections and later seized control of Gaza following a brief civil war with PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah.

Raed Abduljalil, a former al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terrorist released in a hostage ransom, is set to speak at the Seattle Palestinian Cultural Resistance Festival.

The British Ministry of Defense’s Senior Adviser for the Middle East and North Africa, V.-Adm. Edward Ahlgren, met Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam, a senior Palestinian Authority official.

Despite blaming Israel, the Palestinian Authority suspended a PA medical professional after launching an investigation into Riyad Al-Amour’s death.

Fatah leadership announced that Palestinians who served 20 years or more in Israeli prisons would be members of the conference.