Sixteen years ago, I stood in line outside an elementary school in Ramallah, in the West Bank, to confirm my name on a registration list and vote in the first Palestinian elections to take place since 1996. The 2005 presidential election was the only time I would partake in a local election, and I recall being as excited about the prospect of being part of the decision-making process in the Palestinian territories as I was about the blue ink stain on my index finger. Now, it looks like I might get a chance to vote again. But the circumstances could not be more different.
The 2005 presidential election came on the heels of the Second Intifada and breathed new hope into the Palestinian territories, which had been shattered by a full-scale Israeli invasion and the death of their iconic leader, Yasser Arafat. Arafat had tapped former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas—who also had the backing of Fatah and the United States—to succeed him in leading the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In those years, Hamas and a smattering of smaller leftist parties were Fatah’s only opposition.
