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What will it take for the U.S. and Europe to realize that the Palestinians support Hamas? Two recent polls, taken by Palestinian organizations, verify that despite the ugliness of Hamas’ recent horrific actions (from one poll) and its mismanagement of Gaza, Palestinians still favor their rule. Here’s a summary of the most recent poll:
A public opinion poll published on November 14 showed that 75% of Palestinians support Hamas's murder spree, including rape and beheadings, as opposed to only 13% who disapprove. The poll, conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), covered 668 respondents across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to the results, 59.3% of the Palestinians expressed ‘extreme support’ for the actions of Hamas on October 7, while 15.7% said they ‘somewhat’ favored the massacre. Fewer than 13% of the Palestinians opposed the massacre.
But if you think the poll only represented Gaza, think again:
The poll also showed that 68% of the Palestinians in the West Bank said they ‘extremely support’ the butchering of Israelis, while another 14.8% said they ‘somewhat’ support it. In total, 87.7% of the Palestinians in the West Bank have a positive sentiment toward Hamas. Only 10.2% of the Palestinians living in the West Bank have a negative sentiment toward Hamas.
To show how deluded the U.S. and Europe are about creating a two-state solution, consider this data:
One month before the Hamas massacre, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research published a poll that showed that 67% of the Palestinian public opposes the idea of a ‘two-state solution’ as opposed to 32% who support it. The poll showed that a majority of 53% of the Palestinians support armed struggle against Israel. Twenty percent said they support negotiations with Israel, while another 24% expressed support for a ‘popular non-violent resistance.’ The poll, in addition, showed that if new presidential elections were held at the time, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would receive 58% of the votes as opposed to 37% for Abbas.
A person can question the veracity of both polls shown here; Arab pollsters are not always reliable in the results they reach. Is AWRAD under the influence of Hamas? Did the pollsters intimidate the respondents to give answers favoring Hamas? These are all questions for which we have no answers.
But this is the data we have to consider. In effect, nothing has changed in attitudes toward Hamas and Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians still hate the Jews. They still desire to drive the Jews into the sea. They want the land all to themselves.
How does Israel, or anyone else, convince Biden and the Europeans that their preferred solution is naïve, deluded and will end in disaster?
In response to how the children are indoctrinated, from cdor below:
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Discussion (87)
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Convince the administration that is looking to give more money to Iran? Can't be done.
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I guess Iran's proxies will need to kill a bunch of Americans in Syria first. Maybe then they'll pay attention?
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The problem is that they are not necessarily that naïve, and are acting on political objectives rather than pure reason of what is just and proper. They have constituencies that are not so much pro-Hamas but anti-Israel. They are are trying to finesse the situation where they stumble into a solution where they satisfy their political constituents while arriving at some sort of justice. It's foolish and ultimately unjust but they have their political necks to keep. Will it work? I don't know. Depends on how they stumble and recover. At least this is how I see it.
Edit: I should also add that Biden and the Europeans mostly have no decision to make. Decisions are Israel alone, and it's easier for them to take a political position to appease their constituents that take a stand where they have little control.
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I agree with all you say, Manny, except I can't see a good outcome. At all.
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I just added an edit above.
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