Falcon29
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Israel's targeting of civilians and occupation back fires
Support for Hamas skyrockets following war, poll shows | The Times of Israel
An overwhelming majority of Palestinians believe Hamas defeated Israel in the recent Gaza operation, and support the continuation of rocket attacks if Israel does not remove the blockade on Gaza, a new Palestinian poll revealed.
According to the data collected on August 26-30 by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) headed by pollster Khalil Shikaki, 79 percent of Palestinians questioned in Gaza and the West Bank said that Hamas had won the war against Israel, while only 3% said Israel had won. A similar majority believed that Israel was responsible for the breakout of the war.
In stark contrast to predictions voiced during Operation Protective Edge by senior Israeli military officers saying the extent of damage in Gaza would likely turn the civilian population against Hamas, 94% of respondents said they were satisfied with Hamas’s performance in confronting the IDF and 78% were pleased with the movement’s defense of civilians in Gaza. Eighty-six percent of the 1,270 adults questioned in the survey said they supported the continuation of rocket attacks at Israel as long as the blockade on Gaza is maintained.
Members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, in the central Gaza Strip, on June 30, 2014. (photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Asked whether they supported transferring Hamas’s model of armed resistance to the West Bank, 74% of respondents in Gaza and 70% in the West Bank answered in the affirmative.
According to the PSR, the answers given in the poll constitute the most significant shift in Palestinian public opinion toward Hamas since the Islamic movement won internationally monitored elections in 2006.
That change is clear in the approval ratings given to Hamas and its leaders compared to those given to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas received 88% approval for its performance during the war, and its political chief Khaled Mashaal won 78% approval. The Palestinian Authority came in significantly lower, with just 36% approval; its leaders, President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, received 39% and 35%, respectively.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah receives the lowest approval rates of all Palestinian leaders (photo credit: Abbas Momani/AFP)
Paradoxically, and worryingly for Israel, Hamas received higher support in the PA-controlled West Bank than it did in Gaza. The poll found that if elections were held today, former Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh would easily defeat Abbas with 61% of the popular vote versus 32%. Sixty-six percent of respondents in the West Bank said they supported Haniyeh, compared to 53% in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, Abbas received just 25% approval, as opposed to 43% in Gaza. Overall support for the Palestinian Authority president plummeted 11% points in two months, from 50% in June to 39% in August, the poll found.
For the first time in eight years, Hamas’s presumptive candidate, Haniyeh, received higher support than Fatah’s more militant Marwan Barghouti, who is serving out multiple life sentences in an Israeli jail for his involvement in militant attacks during the Second Intifada. If elections were held today, the poll found, Haniyeh would defeat Barghouti with 49% of the vote versus 45%.
Nashat Aqtash, a communications professor at Ramallah’s Bir Zeit University who served as media adviser to Hamas in the 2006 elections, said he was not surprised by the new data on Hamas’s popularity.
“In some parts of the world, pressure begets explosion. In the case of Hamas, [Israeli] pressure yields solidarity and power,” Aqtash told The Times of Israel. The secret to Hamas’s attraction, he added, was its appealing religious message as well as the effectiveness of its security forces in Gaza.
Previous polls have shown that Hamas’s dyed-in-the-wool supporters comprise no more than 15% of the Palestinian population, while 40-47 percent are undecided and can be swayed to support Hamas or the PLO, Aqtash said. But the ongoing failure of peace talks with Israel, compounded with Hamas’s steadfastness, has proven to Palestinians that there is, in fact, a viable alternative to Abbas’s nonviolent tactics.
Aqtash predicted that Hamas and Islamic Jihad would unite ahead of the parliamentary elections expected in early 2015 and together receive at least 70% of the popular vote.
“The PLO can get no more than 30 percent,” he said.
..........................
What happened to the pieces of garbage who say the PA is the official representative of the Palestinian people? When it is very clear the vast majority of Palestinians do not see that as the case. Why is the corrupt, collaborator PA still allowed to hold power?
Will the PA/Israel allow elections? Remember, they kept saying Hamas must enter elections. SO now will they try arresting all their supporters in the West Bank? Yet even after all of this the PA still acts as if it's the representative of the Palestinian people.
Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt act the same as well. It's about the time the PA stops trying to stupid things like supporting the blockade on Gaza so they could try taking power there. The Unity government saved their butt. There better be fair elections and it's time the people we choose get into power.
This poll clearly demonstrates the Israeli occupation/policy is directed at every single Palestinian from child to elder. And that's why they are so fed up.
Support for Hamas skyrockets following war, poll shows | The Times of Israel
An overwhelming majority of Palestinians believe Hamas defeated Israel in the recent Gaza operation, and support the continuation of rocket attacks if Israel does not remove the blockade on Gaza, a new Palestinian poll revealed.
According to the data collected on August 26-30 by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) headed by pollster Khalil Shikaki, 79 percent of Palestinians questioned in Gaza and the West Bank said that Hamas had won the war against Israel, while only 3% said Israel had won. A similar majority believed that Israel was responsible for the breakout of the war.
In stark contrast to predictions voiced during Operation Protective Edge by senior Israeli military officers saying the extent of damage in Gaza would likely turn the civilian population against Hamas, 94% of respondents said they were satisfied with Hamas’s performance in confronting the IDF and 78% were pleased with the movement’s defense of civilians in Gaza. Eighty-six percent of the 1,270 adults questioned in the survey said they supported the continuation of rocket attacks at Israel as long as the blockade on Gaza is maintained.
Members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, in the central Gaza Strip, on June 30, 2014. (photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Asked whether they supported transferring Hamas’s model of armed resistance to the West Bank, 74% of respondents in Gaza and 70% in the West Bank answered in the affirmative.
According to the PSR, the answers given in the poll constitute the most significant shift in Palestinian public opinion toward Hamas since the Islamic movement won internationally monitored elections in 2006.
That change is clear in the approval ratings given to Hamas and its leaders compared to those given to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas received 88% approval for its performance during the war, and its political chief Khaled Mashaal won 78% approval. The Palestinian Authority came in significantly lower, with just 36% approval; its leaders, President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, received 39% and 35%, respectively.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah receives the lowest approval rates of all Palestinian leaders (photo credit: Abbas Momani/AFP)
Paradoxically, and worryingly for Israel, Hamas received higher support in the PA-controlled West Bank than it did in Gaza. The poll found that if elections were held today, former Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh would easily defeat Abbas with 61% of the popular vote versus 32%. Sixty-six percent of respondents in the West Bank said they supported Haniyeh, compared to 53% in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, Abbas received just 25% approval, as opposed to 43% in Gaza. Overall support for the Palestinian Authority president plummeted 11% points in two months, from 50% in June to 39% in August, the poll found.
For the first time in eight years, Hamas’s presumptive candidate, Haniyeh, received higher support than Fatah’s more militant Marwan Barghouti, who is serving out multiple life sentences in an Israeli jail for his involvement in militant attacks during the Second Intifada. If elections were held today, the poll found, Haniyeh would defeat Barghouti with 49% of the vote versus 45%.
Nashat Aqtash, a communications professor at Ramallah’s Bir Zeit University who served as media adviser to Hamas in the 2006 elections, said he was not surprised by the new data on Hamas’s popularity.
“In some parts of the world, pressure begets explosion. In the case of Hamas, [Israeli] pressure yields solidarity and power,” Aqtash told The Times of Israel. The secret to Hamas’s attraction, he added, was its appealing religious message as well as the effectiveness of its security forces in Gaza.
Previous polls have shown that Hamas’s dyed-in-the-wool supporters comprise no more than 15% of the Palestinian population, while 40-47 percent are undecided and can be swayed to support Hamas or the PLO, Aqtash said. But the ongoing failure of peace talks with Israel, compounded with Hamas’s steadfastness, has proven to Palestinians that there is, in fact, a viable alternative to Abbas’s nonviolent tactics.
Aqtash predicted that Hamas and Islamic Jihad would unite ahead of the parliamentary elections expected in early 2015 and together receive at least 70% of the popular vote.
“The PLO can get no more than 30 percent,” he said.
..........................
What happened to the pieces of garbage who say the PA is the official representative of the Palestinian people? When it is very clear the vast majority of Palestinians do not see that as the case. Why is the corrupt, collaborator PA still allowed to hold power?
Will the PA/Israel allow elections? Remember, they kept saying Hamas must enter elections. SO now will they try arresting all their supporters in the West Bank? Yet even after all of this the PA still acts as if it's the representative of the Palestinian people.
Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt act the same as well. It's about the time the PA stops trying to stupid things like supporting the blockade on Gaza so they could try taking power there. The Unity government saved their butt. There better be fair elections and it's time the people we choose get into power.
This poll clearly demonstrates the Israeli occupation/policy is directed at every single Palestinian from child to elder. And that's why they are so fed up.
