Israel Names Palestinian Mayor of West Bank City
Israel today appointed a prominent Palestinian as mayor of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
The appointment was a step toward keeping Prime Minister Shimon Peres’ promise to improve the quality of life in the West Bank, said Col. Ephraim Sneh, the Israeli head of the West Bank administration. The United States has demanded an improvement in life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Zafer Masri, 44, head of the Nablus Chamber of Commerce, is the first new Palestinian mayor in the occupied territories since 1976, when the last free direct election was held by local Palestinians.
Most of the mayors elected in 1976 were supporters of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Except for Bethlehem Mayor Elias Freij, all the Palestinians elected in 1976 have since been deposed by Israel.
An Israeli army officer has been running city affairs since Israel deposed the elected mayor, Bassam Shakaa, in 1982.
Masri said that the appointment was “a step forward” in easing the climate in the West Bank, but he said it was not directly related to efforts to start peace talks with Jordan.
“It has nothing to do with the political process or the peace process. It is something which is bringing things back to normal,” Masri said.
Nablus, 30 miles north of Jerusalem, has been a center of anti-Israeli attacks. An Israeli settler was shot to death there on July 30.
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