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Palestinians Deny Hamas' Oct. 7 Atrocities
(Times of Israel) Gianluca Pacchiani - Palestinian diplomat Abdullah Abu Shawesh claimed to Al Jazeera in January that no Israeli civilians were killed in the Oct. 7 onslaught on communities near Gaza, and that accounts of rape and other atrocities "were lies," dismissing the overwhelming evidence. On the Palestinian street, these views reflect mainstream beliefs, with polling showing high levels of denial. According to a Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) survey last month, over 90% of Palestinians believe that "Hamas did not commit the atrocities seen in the videos" on Oct. 7. That number is 97% among West Bank residents, compared to 83% of Gazans. PCPSR director Khalil Shikaki said this is due to the lack of coverage in Palestinian and Arab media. 85% of Palestinians said they had not seen video of the acts. Al Jazeera, which Shikaki estimated is the main news outlet for half of the population, "was more focused on the glorification of what happened, relying on the official statements by Hamas and repeating those quite often." The Qatari outlet published videos of Palestinians celebrating the attack in what it described as outbreaks of "spontaneous" and "overwhelming joy." "Many Palestinians believe...that the large-scale destruction could not have been produced by a small armed group [of Hamas fighters], but rather must have been the work of Israeli tanks or helicopters," Shikaki said. Michael Milshtein, head of the Forum for Palestinian Studies at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, said, "Palestinians live in a state of perpetual victimhood; they always find a justification for whatever they do. They cannot accept the elevated levels of violence that exist in their midst, nor the fact that they are capable of perpetrating war crimes."