Unions

Union mobilisation played a major role in the development of the Palestinian liberation movement since 1925, and has historically been a vehicle for Palestinian women ans students to play a role in politics. They were weakened by the emergence of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the decline of the PLO, in which they are represented. The split between West Bank and Gaza led to the creation of two separate bodies of unions. University student unions are dominated by factional politics, and elections for the unions often serve as indicators of the strength of the political parties as a whole.