Palestinians support Hamas decision to go to war with Israel, survey suggests, with no political solution on horizon
Palestinians support Hamas decision to go to war with Israel, survey suggests, with no political solution on horizon
A survey of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank suggests they back Hamas in its decision to go to war with Israel, seeing no alternative to armed struggle.
CNN reporting on some interesting survey results from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah. Seven hundred and fifty adults were interviewed face to face in the West Bank, and 481 were interviewed in Gaza, also in person. The Gaza data collection was done during the recent truce, when it was safer for researchers to move about.
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Of course they’re going to support fighting back against a nation murdering their children in broad daylight while the world watches, who could blame them? Many probably didn’t hold those sentiments before this “reprisal” but now..
Eh, that's not quite what the survey respondents are saying. It's not as simple as "support war, yes or no?":
The survey, which has a four-point margin of error (rather than the usual three-point), found that almost three-quarters (72%) of all respondents believe Hamas’s decision to launch its attack on Israel on October 7 was “correct.” Less than a quarter (22%) said it was “incorrect.”
They're very clearly in favor of the initial attack, not just the response. And it goes further:
In Gaza, support for armed struggle has risen only slightly from 50% in September 2022 (a year before the current war) to 56% in December 2023. In the West Bank, however, support has been rising dramatically from 35% in September 2022 to 54% in September 2023 (a month before the war). This month, polled support for armed struggle reached 68% in the West Bank.
And:
But Shikaki cautions that higher support for Hamas should not be over-stated, at least not yet. As more Palestinians come to terms with the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, so attitudes could change — though that is unlikely to be the case so long as Gaza remains under massive attack.
Important again is how many people have watched videos from October 7 and the differences between the territories. In Gaza, 25% of those asked said they had viewed such videos; and 16% of all respondents told researchers Hamas had committed war crimes. In the West Bank, the corresponding numbers were just 7% and 1%.
Gaza is moving out of denial more quickly than the West Bank, Shikaki says, and that means a reckoning for Hamas. Already, only 38% of Gazans want to see the militant group return to governance after the war.
This is the part that's Western media doesn't show: Hamas support and animosity towards Israel predates the October attacks, it's a big part of why the Israeli government is responding this way.
I think most Palestinians have some sort of animosity towards Israel for a long time due to apartheid.
Holy shit, could we be on the cusp of a unified Hamas government in Gaza and the West Bank?
Probably not. Hamas has been more popular in the west bank for decades. The Palestinian authority is a repressive government. It will continue imposing itself on the people and serving Israel regardless of that. The only way the will of the populace could be instated in the west bank at this time is if the PA's own security forces rebel. That's not likely to happen because they go through severe brainwashing and personal humiliation in order to become part of the forces through a program devised by the US and overseen by general Dayton.
Yep.
It's just they (rightfully) feel like diplomacy won't work because there's an obvious mismatch in strength, and the international community has shown not to give a fuck for decades.
It's a slow genocide, or a fighting chance.
They literally have no other option than sitting there waiting to be killed. Who wouldn't want to fight back? Even if they know they can't win.
the international community has shown not to give a fuck for decades.
The international community does give a fuck - or, at least, the west does. They want to see Israel successfully perpetrate genocide - and they would really appreciate it if everybody would shut up about it.
"we're outsized in military strength so we should pursue war over diplomacy" what?
Israel is never going to respond to Diplomacy. That's not how genocidal states operate.
What does that have to do with the clarification I inquired about?
You're acting as if Diplomacy is an option. It's not. Genocidal states do not respond to Diplomacy. They only respond to bloodshed and slaughter. Did the Nazis come to the table in good faith while they were genociding? No? Then why do you think Israel is any different?
That's twice you didn't actually respond to my comment. Now you're going down a rabbit hole extrapolating what my beliefs are. Do you do this offline? Walk down the street and shout at strangers about tangential topics to things you seem them observing or working on? Ffs I dont even feel that differently than you.
I definitely responded to what you meant originally, even if you think it doesn't make sense as a reply. Why are they pursuing war when they're outmatched? Because it's literally the only option when dealing with genocidal states. What other clarification could you need? Apologies if I gave you too much credit towards having opinions that make sense though.
How long do you think they should try diplomacy for before they realize that it's not working?
What? My comment is that the above doesn't make logical sense. What are you talking about?
The cowardly and terrorist attack on civilians Hamas committed on Oct 7th was short sighted and doesn't make logical sense. Fighting back against a superior force when all other options have been exhausted does make sense. There are a few historical examples of a small force overcoming a superior force, it could happen. Not likely, but again, when there aren't other options, trying the same thing that didn't work over and over again for 50 years isn't very logical either.
How long do you think they have tried it?
30 years or so.
The person I'm replying to seems to be missing a lot of historical context, which is why I'm asking the question and why I'm not going to answer yours without a bit of quid pro quo.
No, I don't.
I'm trying to interpret this as a response to my post, but it doesn't make sense. I don't want to assume incorrectly or misinterpret your response so I need you to clarify what you mean.
Hey, I'm sorry. I think the thread loaded buggy for me. I thought your reply was directly to me about my comment
This is literally the opposite of the truth, look at how Israel has made peace with every other Arab nation in the area after they came to the table for peace, fighting will just end in more subjugation and loss of territory, that is the story of Israel and Palestine
Israel tries to make peace, Palestinians refuse and fight then lose more land, ad infinitum
The west bank is a lie and doesn't exist. It's propaganda made up by Hamas to prove being peaceful with israel doesn't work and they will slowly steal all your land with guns and bulldozer your houses.
Yea sure, just strawman me.
If you look at how the west bank is treated vs Gaza you'd see that Israel is willing to give peaceful people autonomy.
And I agree Israel is fucking abhorant for the illegal settlements, and they should be punished for it, there is no excuse for them.
The settlers, armed and protected by Isreal, run counter to your claim that Isreal is willing to make peace. The reality is that Isreal wants the land and they're going to take one way or another. With violence from peaceful people or with violence from people fighting against them taking their land.
If they just wanted the land, peace be damned why'd they give the Sinai peninsula back?
Who said that all they wanted was the land?
And if you think that the Sinai Peninsula was in any way peaceful, you're missing a lot. It gives the impression that you don't know what you're talking about and are only using bullet points that someone else came up with. If not, go ahead and look into it and there you will find the answer.
Irrational deflections aside, Israel is taking land from peaceful people as well as people fighting back. If you were to disregard the excuses given by Israel and look at what has been going on for 80 years, you might see that their actions speak louder than their words. At about 10 times louder and getting even louder.
Edit: line breaks
Why does every post miss the fact this poll is about support for the Oct 7th attack, which is what directly lead to the "murdering their children" part.
Hamas performed a terrorist attack, Israel responded with genocide. Not equitable actions there
When you say a nation murdering their children you're talking about palestinians slaughtering Israelis , right? Oh no that's right, even though terrorists filmed everything, it's only justified since those civilians were evil Jews. https://thisishamas.com/
Never said that, both parties have committed war crimes, there is no good situation out of this. Genocide is wrong
Nice whataboutism, did you learn that in kindergarten?
No, they're talking about reality, not Israeli propaganda with no sources