Get email notification for articles from Jack Khoury Follow May. 1, 2021 11:17 PM While most Palestinian factions criticized President Mahmoud Abbas for his announcement on Thursday that parliamentary elections were being postponed, the Palestinian public received the news rather apathetically. Protests were held in Gaza and Ramallah following Abbas' announcement, but none of appeared to threaten the president's power. The heads of the factions and candidates who planned to run in the May 22 election attacked Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership. They accused Abbas of caving to Israel, which refused to allow voting in East Jerusalem – the official reason for delaying the election. According to Palestinian political sources, however, the election was delayed because of Abbas' fear that his Fatah faction would not be victorious.