A wartime opinion poll among Palestinians shows a rise in support for Hamas, which appears to have ticked up even in the devastated Gaza Strip.
The findings by a Palestinian pollster signal more difficulties ahead for the Biden administration’s postwar vision for Gaza and raise questions about Israel’s stated goal of ending Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.
Washington has called for the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, currently led by Abbas, to eventually assume control of Gaza and run both territories as a precursor to statehood. U.S. officials have said the PA must be revitalized, without letting on whether this would mean leadership changes.
The PA administers pockets of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and has governed Gaza until a takeover by Hamas militants in 2007. The Palestinians have not held elections since 2006 when Hamas won a parliamentary majority.
Yeah, so Israel's done some really fucked up shit, clearly, but when I see polls like this that indicate significant Palestinian support for Hamas, my sympathy for them dips substantially. If you're going to back a terrorist group, I don't much care if you get bombed along with them.
You should care if civilian get bombed not out of sympathy for them but because it's the right thing to do. Everything is fucked over there and will make you uncomfortable.
If you’re going to back a terrorist group, I don’t much care if you get bombed along with them.
Of course they're going to support Hamas. The terrorist cell are the only ones even remotely in the corner of the Palestinians who were first being Apartheid-level oppressed by the Israeli government, and now are getting absolutely smoked by the IDF.
'Desperate' does not even begin to describe the situation of Palestinian civilians. If you were in the same position, and the only people fighting for you is a terrorist cell, I doubt you'd be that moralistic either.
And the Israeli government has been doing far, far worse.
Stealing humanitarian aid? The IDF have been straight up bombing refugee camps that they themselves told Palestinians to go to. Not to mention, the Israeli government is directly the reason why humanitarian aid needed to be sent there in the first place, having cut off essential supplies to Gaza.
Using them as human shields? The IDF is performing straight up genocides.
Hostages? The IDF have been doing the same for decades. They literally process Palestinians via a seperate IDF-run court for any and all 'offences'. The conditions they are held in are little better than that of the hostages held by Hamas, but they hold far greater numbers.
Caused this catastrophe upon them? I don't know what part of Hamas's actions you think somehow warrant straight up genocide of Palestinian civilians, but you're wrong.
Hamas are a bunch of shit heads, but they're also the only people that can and will push back against the IDF for its abuses of the Palestinian people.
Again, given the insane amount of deplorable shit the Israeli government puts the Palestinians through, it isn't surprising that they will support shitheads like Hamas. It's basically a choice between the Apartheid level oppressors or a shit head terrorist cell fighting against the Apartheid level oppressors.
They were voted in democratically, because the other option was Fatah. Netanyahu was voted in democratically multiple times, because some people cannot stand the thought of not killing more Palestinians and not stealing more of their land.
If your family were to be bombed we would see if your tune changed. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Israel is working hard to make as many enemies as possible.
I would guess the Palestinians see Hamas like the US looks back on the revolutionary founding fathers, people who fought back against an oppressive government in the pursuit of independence. Both situations are far more complex than that, but for the average person who sees regular violence against their group they will support the people who fight back.
They are fighting for an end to the occupation. These their are literal words. The occupation is israel. An illegal colony on top of Palestine.
Jews in the levant were considered Palestinians too. Arab nationalists were murdering Jews back before Israel was founded, before the Nakba, back when they were legally purchasing land to live alongside them. This is what caused Israel and the IDF to become a thing, to defend themselves against Arabs murdering them. Hamas is just the latest manifestation of this desire by the same group, their unceasing violence has continued since those early days.
If they weren't trying to murder Jews none of this would have happened, the British wouldn't have concluded that a one-state solution wasn't viable, the UN wouldn't have drawn up borders, and Palestinians wouldn't have started and lost a war against Israel that led to belligerent lands being annexed by the victor.
If the israelis want to live in Palestine many Palestinians are actually in favor (though with the recent conflict that has probably declined).
Most Palestinians want a one-state solution where they deny Jews equal rights:
Hamas is the only group that fights for the Palestinians. Supporting America or the PLO only gets them killed. They don't give a shit about your support since you're killing them.
Thinking you're going to make someone turn against a group by killing their wife and kids and then saying "See, THEY are the bad guys!" is some next level stupid"
So is it alright if Russian civilians are bombed because of their broad support for Putin?, or u.s. and Israeli citizens get bombed for their overwhelming support for the IDF and their atrocities?
Killing civilians is bad no matter their politics.
Israel claims they are attacking military targets, civilian deaths are due to collateral damage. The same would be legal for Ukraine to do in Russia. Support for Putin is hard to gauge considering they rig every election.
What is a government and what is a terrorist group, is Hezbollah a government or a terrorist group?, was the Jim crow bourbon democratic party a government or a terrorist group?, is the Iranian state a government or a terrorist group?
Governments and terrorist groups aren't mutually exclusive. Many governments, including the U.S., fund and support terrorist groups and terrorist acts, and many terrorist groups provide social and governmental services. Hamas does both, although there terror wing is where most of the resources and energy go, they still are, or at least were, the government of gaza and provided some governmental and social services. Them being a government doesn't make there atrocities any better or worse, same with the Israeli state.
Governments can be worse than terrorists ... as evidenced by South African apartheid; Stalin's starvation of Ukrainians (when the Ukraine was still part of Russia); Hitler's pogrom against Jews, Poles, gypsies, etc; Mao Zedong's starvation of 45 million Chinese peasants; and Pol Pot's genocide against Cambodian citizens of Chinese, Vietnamese, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and intellectual ethnicities and beliefs.
Nevermind the worldwide genocide of Indigenous peoples through starvation, outright murder, removal of children from families for "re-education", sterilization of women, etc.