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Who Says Hamas Does Not Represent the Palestinians?

(Gatestone Institute) Bassam Tawil - The Biden administration's assertion that Hamas is an insignificant group of terrorists that does not enjoy the support of many Palestinians contradicts the reality, which proves that Hamas actually does represent a significant portion of the Palestinians. This inconvenient reality is based on public opinion polls conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) and the results of elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council and university student councils and professional unions. It is also based on mass demonstrations and rallies in support of Hamas. The most recent PSR poll, published in September, showed that if new presidential elections were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would win 58% of the vote, while Mahmoud Abbas would receive 37%. Hamas' "armed struggle" (terrorism) against Israel was supported by 58% of the Palestinian public, the poll showed. Another PSR poll, published last June, found that 66% of Palestinians believe that Israel will not celebrate its 100th anniversary and 51% believe that the Palestinian people will be able to "recover Palestine in the future" (i.e., destroy Israel). In 2021, Abbas cancelled elections he had called for the Palestinian Authority presidency and parliament after realizing that his Fatah faction was poised to lose to Hamas. The September PSR poll showed that 78% of Palestinians do not have faith in Abbas and want him to resign. Abbas has not condemned the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7. Both Hamas and Abbas represent a majority of Palestinians whose goal is to murder Jews and destroy Israel.
2023-10-24 00:00:00
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