Shortly before midnight last Thursday, in front of a cheering crowd, 31-year-old Hussein al-Deik was picked as the president of Palestine.
It wasn't a real election; just the grand finale of a TV reality series, shot in front of a live audience. Suheir Rasul, co-director of the Jerusalem office of Search for Common Ground, the organization that put on the show, said the goal is to get young people excited about the democratic process.
"The word is to reenergize and reignite the people, to remind them that we can be democratic, we believe in democracy, and the youth have a voice," Rasul explains.
But Palestinians have held only two presidential elections since the Palestinian Authority was established almost 20 years ago. The current president, Mahmood Abbas, has stayed on several years past the end of his term.
Palestinian political analyst Daoud Kuttab says a lack of elections leads to a lack of legitimacy.
"In most political events, you need a kind of election cycle to create leaders," Kuttab says.
The lack of elections also makes restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations difficult. Secretary of State John Kerry has been in the region for the past three days, trying to convince leaders on both sides to come together for talks.
Palestinian political leaders have long had their roots in militias who fought against Israel, but Kuttab says people are beginning to look for leadership elsewhere.
Parallels
'Arab Idol' Win Unites Palestinians In Jubilant Celebration