New York, September 4, 2014: A new poll has shown that a majority of Palestinian Arabs — 72% — support adopting Hamas’ military approach, used in Hamas-controlled Gaza to fight Israel, in Judea/Samaria as well.
The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, also found:
- 61% of Palestinian Arabs would chose Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as Palestinian Authority (PA) president if PA presidential elections were held today. Only 32% of Palestinian Arabs would back incumbent Fatah/PA President Mahmoud Abbas. This shows a huge increase of support for Haniyeh and Hamas over Fatah and Abbas from June, before the Gaza war, at which time Haniyeh was found to command the support of only 41% of Palestinian Arabs, while Abbas was supported by 53%.
- 79% of Palestinian Arabs believe Hamas won the war.
- 86% support the renewal of rocket fire on Israel if a blockade on Gaza is not lifted, one of Hamas’ main demands (‘Poll: After Gaza War, Hamas Gathers Support Of 61 Percent Of Palestinians,’ CBS (D.C.), September 2, 2014).
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “We see clearly a number of important insights in these poll results.
“First, it is obvious that the Israeli blockade of Gaza –– which was necessitated by Palestinian Arab terrorism both before and after Hamas seized Gaza in 2007 from the Fatah/PA –– is not the issue. If it were, why are they not demanding that rockets be fired into Egypt to lift Egypt’s similar blockade on Gaza? Why aren’t they firing rockets into Egypt. This is about hating the Jews and seeking to destroy the Jewish state, not blockades, restrictions or any other bill of particulars.
“Second, we see clearly that Palestinian Arabs, and not just in Gaza, favor terrorism against Israel. These are not meek, hapless civilians; they are violent, terrorism-supporting enemy civilians. They support the murderous doctrines and terrorism of Hamas. They would have been thrilled if Hamas had managed to use their terror tunnels to carry out mass-casualty, Mumbai-like terror attacks in Israel. The overwhelmingly support indiscriminate attacks upon Israeli civilians –– war crimes
“Third, we see that a war that ends with an inconclusive finish, an unsatisfactory ceasefire and without the defeat and disarmament of Hamas, is one that feeds and intensifies Palestinian Arab hatred and terrorism, not peace.”