Hamas militants in a parade procession.
Israel left the Gaza Strip in 2005, supposedly with the idea that the area would become self-governing as a means to create peace between the two regions. But soon after Israel left, Hamas damaged the area’s infrastructure such as greenhouses that were left behind, and then the people in Gaza voted Hamas into power to be its representative government, after which the group took totalitarian control of the region. Since that time, Hamas has frequently engaged in skirmishes and larger armed conflicts with Israel (link), causing Israel to lock the area down and restrict the movement of people.
Most people agree that at least on the surface Israel was in the right in that situation, but since Hamas is actually controlled by the global elite (link, and link), it changes everything.
I find it disturbing that most people who have been vocally pro-Palestine have been doing so under the assumption that the situation on the surface is the whole truth— In other words, many support Hamas and its terrorist mentalities even though it is actually a weapon that is being used against the Palestinians, the Israelis, and the rest of the world.
What are the goals of Hamas?
The goals of Hamas are ultimately “offensive” and not “defensive,” as they are based on Islamic Jihadist scripture. See this video by David Wood that explains the stages of Jihad.
In 1988, Hamas wrote its first charter where it advocated for the obliteration of Israel through Jihad, the rejection of peaceful settlements with Israel, and it incited to kill Jews by citing scripture from the Quran.
In 2017, the group wrote an “updated” charter which has less antisemitic language, but it still says that Israel has no right to exist. It is often criticized as being a cosmetic effort designed to make Hamas sound more palatable while actually not changing anything about its underlying aims and methods.
See this article that contains excepts from the 1988 charter and text from a Wikipedia page about the 2017 charter.
What are polls saying about the attitudes of Palestinians and others?
Polls have shown that about 76% of Palestinians currently support Hamas, while about 57% of American Muslims think that Hamas was at least somewhat justified in its attacks. Among American students when broken down by race, 58% of White college students, 47% of Latinos, and only 36% of Black college students believe that Hamas deserves blame for the attacks.
Note however that polls should not be trusted since there is no accountability for their results. For example, an Axios poll taken before the 2020 election that was reported by CBS said that 32% of black people thought that whites would attack them at the polls.
Attitudes PRIOR to the October 7th attacks:
A June, 2021 AP article explains that there was a surge in support for Hamas in Palestine in a poll after a Gaza war with Israel occurred in the previous month, where three quarters of the people said they thought the Islamic militants were the victors, and 53% of them said they believe Hamas is “most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people.”
A December 8, 2023 Stanford University report says that it polled Palestinians on the day before the October 7th attacks:
“ … [A] majority of Palestinians (51%) supported a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with slightly more support seen among residents of Gaza than among West Bank Palestinians. A quarter of respondents also said they supported ‘armed resistance’ as a preferred solution to Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
…
A related issue, Jamal added, is that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has lost legitimacy, due to both its levels of corruption and the continued failure of the peace process. If Palestinians are to ever believe in a future that extends beyond Hamas, she said, then the international community must work together to help bolster the legitimacy of the PA so that it can be the champion of the peace process.
[NOTE that the supposedly “moderate” Palestinian Authority had recently issued an edict to be preached to Muslims on October 19, where it advocated for the extermination of all Jews. See this article and the video it contains about that matter.]
Attitudes AFTER the October 7th attacks:
A November 14, 2023 Awrad poll of Palestinians says that 76% support Hamas, and when asked about their support of the various Hamas armed wings: 89% support the Al-Qassam Brigades, 84% support the Islamic Jihad group, and 80% support the Aqsa Brigades.
This October 17, 2023 “Generation Lab” poll that was reported by NBC says that 73% of Republicans and only 50% of Democrats and independents blame Hamas for its attack on Israel; and when broken down by race, 58% of White college students, 47% of Latinos, and only 36% of Black college students believe that Hamas deserves blame for the attacks.
An October 20, 2023 Cygnal poll asked Muslim Americans about their views of the Palestine-Israel conflict, where it reported the following results, as reported in this Jihad Watch article:
— 28% Of Muslim Americans strongly agree that Hamas was justified in their attacks, while 29% somewhat agree. (57% agree overall.)
— 16% Of Muslim Americans strongly disagree that Hamas was justified in their attacks, while 25% somewhat disagree. (41% disagree overall.)
— The Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh has a 38% favorability among Muslim Americans, and 34% are unfavorable to him.
— The Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh has a 7% favorability among American Jews, and 12% favorability among Evangelicals.
— The Iranian supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has a 31% favorability among Muslim Americans and a 34% unfavorable rating.
— 52% of Muslim Americans equate Hamas to Al Qaeda, while 18% say it is not as bad. 49% equate it to ISIS.
— About a third of Muslim Americans rated Israel and even Netanyahu positively, but many more are opposed.
Other indicators of attitudes of the Palestinians
There is much evidence of Palestinians having hostile attitudes toward Israel and the West, such as the following information shows. It can be argued that ultimately such mentalities have been purposely “engineered” into them by the global elite, but those are the mentalities that many have nonetheless.
A video made in the year 2000 explains that Palestinian children are systematically taught in their public schools and elsewhere to hate Jews; where their textbooks advocate for violent Jihad and even suicide bombing, and the state of Israel is not even depicted on their maps.
This article explains that footage exists of thousands of Palestinians celebrating when they learned about the 9/11 attacks, but most of the footage was suppressed by the AP.
This news report shows a Palestinian mob executing two Palestinians for allegedly collaborating with Israel, where they were then hung in the city center for display.