A university poll last week confirms that Hamas is growing in popularity in Israel’s West Bank. The student elections at Birzeit University, Ramallah, are the closest the West Bank comes to free and fair elections, says Ghassan Khatib, the university’s vice president. Because of this, the ballot is closely monitored as an indicator of public opinion in the disputed territories.

“All the people outside the university pay attention to see who will lead the student union. It indicates what is going on in society,” said information technology student Ahemd Zaytoun, 21.

The election campaign at this university was not fought over student fees or facilities. Instead, it was a reflection of the wider political division between Fatah and Hamas.

Fatah won the elections, as usual, but with a greatly reduced lead. Going into the elections, Fatah held a five-seat lead over Hamas in the student council. Now, Fatah has 24 out of the 51 seats; Hamas won 22.

“We won in Gaza,” Najib Mafarjeh, leader of the Islamist bloc, shouted during the final debate of the contest. “We will win again here.”

Ahed Hamdan, his Fatah counterpart, disagreed. The Gaza war was a victory for all the Palestinian people, not just Hamas, he said. Neither side believes the Gaza war ended in a Hamas defeat.

Atua Jaber, leader of the Democratic Students’ Movement, called for unity between Hamas and Fatah. Why? “Only when we have unity can we fight for our demands. Only then will we finish our journey in Jerusalem and put the Palestinian flag on every roof,” he said.

These elections paint a worrying picture for Israel. They show the West Bank becoming more radicalized and leaning more toward Hamas.

Hamas’s war with Israel in January boosted Hamas’s popularity among Palestinians, a January poll conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center said. Hamas’s popularity had risen from 19.3 percent in April last year to 28.6 percent. Fatah’s had fallen from 34 percent to 27.9 percent—making Hamas more popular than Fatah. The trend is especially pronounced in the West Bank, where Hamas’s popularity rose from 12.8 percent in November to 26.5 percent in the January poll.

Hamas is gaining in popularity quickly. At the moment, Fatah is relying on force to stop its rival from becoming too powerful. “Over here I can say I support Hamas, but outside I would be killed,” Hazim Kahala, a 21-year-old architecture student at Birzeit University, said.

But, as Hamas gunmen proved in Gaza, they are not afraid to use force to take control either. As Hamas increases in popularity, watch for it to increase in political power and firepower. Expect the West Bank to turn radical soon. For more, read Stephen flurry’s article “Israel’s Gift to Hamas.”