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.
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.
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.
I can’t imagine why, considering how marvellously calm, restrained, and mature Israel has been. I mean it’s not like Israel has been indiscriminately bombing children or something…?
Not surprising at all. When you see people around you dying, you either flee or fight… rest is all BS orchestrated by Zionist run media. The core is simple enough.
Hamas is was and is a popular government. Sad given they haven’t exactly steered Gaza to a good place.
I’m aware Israel is responsible for leveling Gaza but coming after the hostages was obviously going to happen - what’s Hamas’s end goal here?
what’s Hamas’s end goal here?
Rebellion.
I support the decision to go to war with Israel, too. The entire planet should be at war with Israel - and it’s benefactors in the west as well.
I doubt that a war of “the entire planet” against Israel, EU and US would improve anything, but what do I know?
What else is one supposed to do with an evil empire other than to wage war on it?
If your solution is to start World War 3, literally any alternative plan is better.
Hence, my alternative plan: I suggest planting trees and gardening fruits, vegetables and leguminous plant.
Will it solve anything regarding those conflicts? I don’t know.
But as you have said, any plan is better.
Not attacking a country with nuclear weapons because of what they’re doing is a lot more rational than attacking that country. But maybe you want to die of radiation sickness. That’ll sure teach Israel!
Surely this would wipe out all the violent bastards without hurting any Israeli civilians, nor would it lead to increased violence against Jews by idiots who can’t separate Jews from Israel. /s
All you’d accomplish is changing the power dynamic, but nothing else. And while that might feel good at the time, 50 years from now we’ll have this conversation again, where the civilians caught in the middle of the conflict have been born into nothing but strife.
There’s a reason why an ongoing moral in fiction is that revenge is bad. Violence begets violence. Unfortunately, I just don’t see how this conflict can reach a resolution without continued violence. Nonetheless, there’s no need to egg it on.
I think the rest of the world should simply stop supporting Israel. No need to attack it, just let them fight their own battles.
9/11 literally only happened because of American support of Israel. It happened because most Americans were supporting Israel without even knowing it. The recent attack by Hamas brought the Zionist agenda and its victims back into the public spotlight. This is many people’s first exposure to what’s really going on in the Middle East, and Zionists do not like that.
I find it hard to read comment sections surrounding this topic these days.
First of all: Israel has the right to exist and fight back against terrorism.
Second of all: Hamas is a terror organization. There is no legitimation for this movement and no one should sympathize with a terror movement. You don’t do it with ISIS or the Taliban. You have no reason to do the same with Hamas.
What we all can agree on is that Israel’s current (and for the past 20 years) government is a radical right-wing one creating an apartheid regime for Palestinians, supporting radical settlers and thus violence against Palestinians.
You can hate the Israel right-wing government as they are at fault for the situation of Palestinians in Gaza and Westbank, and also strengthen Hamas politically and thus also at fault for the terror attacks. Does that make Israel’s existence be questioned? In no way.
Be angry about how Palestinians are being treated, feel angry about right-wing politics in Israel, but don’t be angry with the existence of Israel and Jews in general.
But why does Israel have a right to exist? It’s not even 80 years old. That land was taken from the Palestinians, so it seems to me that the Palestinians have more right to the land than Israel does.
The answer to the conflict is definitely not genocide of either set of people and Hamas is certainly not going to stop their genocidal goals.
But no state has a “right” to exist, certainly not one that’s less than 80 years old and which stole and is still stealing land from another group of people.
The origin goes back to, no surprise, the British. Some politicians thought it would be good to grow their influence in the region, where they currently had none. Zionists wanted their own state there, and these politicians thought a growing Israeli population would give Britain more influence like they wanted.
The Zionist desire for a Jewish state is rather interesting, because there’s arguably some similarities to Palestinians. There was a pogrom against Jews during the years of the Russian revolution, and it led a prominent Jewish thinker to opine that Jews would never see peace nor be respected unless they had their own state. The original desire was born from wanting to be free from discrimination and violence.
Unfortunately, there was a cultural “enlightenment” at the time as well, and this gave rise to an extremist Zionist way of thinking. They warped the original intent of wanting a Jewish state, and here we are today. Zionist groups would go on to commit terror attacks in Mandated Palestine.
Circling back, does Israel have a right to exist? I would say no – but the Jewish people (completely separate from Israel) deserve to live in peace and with dignity. Just as the Palestinians deserve to live in peace and with dignity. And much like Zionist terrorists taking that pure desire and using it for their own ends, you have Hamas taking advantage of Palestinians and their anger.
It feels very hopeless at this point for the Israelis to recognize that Palestinians are like them, violently discriminated against in the past; and for Palestinians to recognize that Hamas is no better than the Zionist terrorists of the past.
Israel has the right to exist
Did they have a right to exist when they stole land and only got control over it after multiple wars?
Feels like zionists are working overtime to craft any argument that diverts attention away from their colonization.
Zionism is religious nationalism. It is the belief that Jews are entitled to the land of Israel.
