The Gaza strip is known for all the wrong reasons but recent democratic elections in the territory went completely unnoticed. This article by Gershon Baskin is published by The Jerusalem Post. Here is an excerpt:

An interesting development occurred recently in Gaza that was not reported in the Israeli or Western media at all. Indeed, these developments went almost unnoticed in official Palestinian media as well.

For the first time in decades, a true representative democratic election was held within a Palestinian political party. The outcome of the election was a great surprise to almost everyone, especially to those who are completely out of touch with the Palestinian public.

The Democratic Reform Bloc, a faction within the Fatah movement headed by ousted Palestinian political leader Mohammed Dahlan – who resides in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – elected representatives of its 100,000 paid and registered members in Gaza. One thousand people were elected to represent the full membership in the election for the leadership council of the movement. In mid-December, a council of 65 people was elected to lead the faction, in an effort to reshape Palestinian politics and to lead the Palestinian people in Gaza, and eventually in the West Bank, to a new future.

Read the full story here.