“Palestinians believe that diplomacy and negotiations are not an option available to them, that only violence and armed struggle is the means to end the siege and blockade over Gaza, and in general to end the Israeli occupation,” Shikaki said.

Ah, this makes complete sense. So it seems they don't necessarily like Hamas, but they support violence because they don't see a diplomatic option available. So instead of just suffering under Israeli blockade, they prefer something to happen.

Almost 80% of respondents told PCPSR researchers that killing women and children in their homes is a war crime.

An even higher number (85%) of respondents said they had not watched videos shown by international news outlets of acts committed by Hamas on October 7 – a figure which may hint at why only 10% of those surveyed said they believed Hamas had committed war crimes that day.

So they don't even know what Hamas is doing.

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.

Shikaki says these divergences reflect the rise in attacks by violent Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank, which have drawn condemnation from the US and Europe...

This also makes sense. When you put people between a rock and a hard place, they'll lash out.

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.

This tells me people don't like Hamas, they just like someone doing something.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You are trying to rationalize by picking parts of the article that fit your (probably) western brain. The truth is the Palestinian population has been radicalized for some time now by their education system and their media https://youtu.be/W3jHj93JFMQ

I suggest you read the actual questions of the poll and the results instead of trying on some reporter interpretation: https://pcpsr.org/en/node/961

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

the Palestinian population has been radicalized for some time now by their education system and their media

Wow, that's messed up. I honestly can't fathom how living with that would impact me long term.

As for the questions, I found this quite interesting:

34% support and 64% oppose the idea of a two-state solution, which was presented to the public without providing details of the solution. Three months ago, support for this solution in a similar question stood at 32%

...

43% believe that the first most vital Palestinian goal should be to end Israeli occupation in the areas occupied in 1967 and build a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital

That ~9% gap between "two state solution" and essentially a description of the two state solution seems too large for a polling gap.

My take is that while they may be radicalized, it sounds like the public could be reasoned with. I would expect that an actual offer by Israel (unlikely) could improve those polling numbers quite a bit. That said, they seem to want Barghouti, which isn't going to work for Israel.

Thanks for the nudge to dig deeper, I have some research to do to better understand the conflict.