国际英语新闻：First ever Jew elected into Fatah revolutionary council

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- One of the 81 new members elected to the Revolutionary Council of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party is a Jerusalem-born Jew called Uri Davis, Fatah sources said on Saturday.

    The sources said it is the first time that a Jew joins the group's highest body since the movement was founded by late leader Yasser Arafat and his comrades on Jan. 1, 1965.

    Davis, who was born in Jerusalem in 1943, ran in the elections for the Revolutionary Council, the Fatah parliament, which were held during the Fatah sixth general conference that kicked off in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Aug. 4.

    The sources said Davis ranked number 31 among the 81 members of the council elected during the 12-day-long Fatah congress, which was initially slated for three days.

    Davis' father is a British Jew and his mother Jewish as well. His parents arrived in Jerusalem for good in 1935, 13 years before the creation of the state of Israel.

    The Jewish revolutionary council member holds double nationalities, Israeli and British. H had his education in Israeli schools and colleges, and then earned masters and PhD degrees in Britain.

    Davis recognizes himself as a Palestinian Jew and describes the state of Israel as a "racist state." He is among those who call for boycotting Israel and establishing a joint democratic state with the Palestinians.

    In 1984, Davis was nominated by Arafat to be a member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the PLO parliament in exile. The man rejects Zionism and considers it as a movement that contradicts with humanity.

    Davis lives in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he got married last year to a Palestinian woman, one of Fatah activists. Myasar Abu Ali said Davis converted to Islam at their marriage.

    The Palestinian Fatah party on Saturday officially announced the final results of electing its Revolutionary Council members at its first congress in 20 years.

    Eleven women were elected to the council, while most of the winners belong to the young guard generation, according to the election results.

    About 2,000 Fatah delegates also cast their ballots at the party congress, the first ever in Palestinian territory, to vote for the Central Committee, the executive body of the party.