Palestinians support Hamas decision to go to war with Israel, survey suggests, with no political solution on horizon | CNN
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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.

  • Blackbeard@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    353·
    11 months ago

    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.

    • triclops6@lemmy.ca
      61·
      11 months ago

      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.

      • machinin@lemmy.world
        92·
        11 months ago

        I think most Palestinians have some sort of animosity towards Israel for a long time due to apartheid.

      • abuttandahalf@lemmy.ml
        44·
        11 months ago

        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.