Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Elder of ZiyonAs we've seen in other polls, the overwhelming majority support Hamas' terror attack on October 7. Even after seeing the devastation in Gaza, a huge majority (72%; 82% in the West Bank and 57% in the Gaza Strip) said Hamas attacking Israel was a correct decision.
But almost none of them admit that Hamas has done any war crimes.
Only 10% of Palestinians think Hamas committed any war crimes, and only 7% think that Hamas committed atrocities against Israelis on October 7. . Only 14% saw videos of Hamas attacking Israelis.
The early narrative in Arab media is that Hamas was heroic and the attack was purely military, so it appears that the people swallowed that whole - and have very little interest in learning anything that might change their minds.
Of course, nearly all Palestinians agree Israel is committing war crimes.
There is one war crime that the Palestinians cannot possibly deny, which is that Hamas took civilians hostage. So to answer another question about whether kidnapping civilians is a war crime, nearly half simply reported that it wasn't - so they could keep thinking of Hamas as being moral.
The Palestinians in the West Bank are even more deluded than Gazans are. 70% of West Bankers think Hamas will emerge victorious in this war, while only half of Gazans think so. Only 1% in the West Bank think Israel will emerge victorious, but nearly one third of Gazans think so.
72% (85% in the West Bank and 52% in the Gaza Strip) are satisfied with how Hamas is doing during the war. The outside country that they are most pleased with during the war is Yemen (80% approval; 89% in the West Bank and 68% in the Gaza Strip.)
Hamas' popularity has skyrocketed. When asked which political party they support, the largest percentage selected Hamas (43%), followed by Fatah (17%). Support for Hamas nearly doubled since the last time the question was asked three months ago.
Similarly, if new parliamentary elections were held today, Hamas'party would trounce Fatah, 51%-19%.
54% believe that Hamas is the most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people today, also double the number three months ago.
The percentage that supports a return to terrorism ("confrontations and armed intifada") went from 58% to 69% - more than two-thirds.
The poll shows that the most intransigent, militant and terror-supporting Palestinians are the ones whom the world thinks is "moderate"- the ones in the West Bank ruled by the PA. Hamas is more popular there than in Gaza. The overwhelming majority want to see Israel destroyed (as the last poll showed.)
This is the most important story that the Western media is actively hiding from you.
