Through an opinion poll in the Palestinian territories shortly before the Hamas attack on October 7, a political scientist from Princeton in the United States concluded that the population felt they were under both Israel’s “occupation” and “dictatorship.” “ of the Palestinian movements to suffer.
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For American-Palestinian researcher Amaney Jamal, dean of the renowned university’s Faculty of Public and International Affairs, civilians in the Gaza Strip have been subjected to an Israeli blockade since 2007, but two-thirds of them do not trust the Islamist power of the “corrupt.” and the “authoritarian” Hamas to improve their lot.
“We have this Israeli occupation” of the Palestinian territories “and we have these Hamas and Palestinian Authority regimes that have become more dictatorial and more authoritarian over time,” Ms. Jamal argued at an AFP reception in Princeton.
“So much so that the average Palestinian (…), accustomed to the occupation of a single (Israeli) power, now lives under the occupation of two Israeli and Palestinian powers,” analyzes this California-born 52-year-old academic Youth in Ramallah.
With his colleague Michael Robbins, Amaney Jamal founded the Arab Barometer, sociological surveys and opinion polls that have been conducted every two years since 2006 in 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The study, titled “What Palestinians Really Think of Hamas,” was conducted among 790 people in the West Bank and 399 in the Gaza Strip. It lasted from the end of September to October 6th and was interrupted on the 7th by the Hamas attack on Israel.
The results surprised these specialists.
No “trust” in Hamas
“Before the October 7 attacks, 67% of Palestinians in Gaza had little or no trust in Hamas,” Ms. Jamal revealed.
This result was intended to undermine “the thesis that the entire Gaza Strip supports Hamas and that therefore the entire Gaza Strip should be held responsible for the terrible acts of Hamas,” a “terrorist” group according to Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Ms. Jamal and Mr. Robbins published their unexpected findings a month ago in the journal Foreign Affairs, and the researcher commented on them in a New York Times podcast.
In Gaza, pollsters focused on the economic blockade that Israel has imposed on the coastal area since 2007. “Who do you blame for your economic problems?” asked the pollsters.
“We thought the main culprit was Israel because of the blockade. But most people tended to cite Hamas’ corruption,” Ms. Jamal said.
Abbas at “9%”
“What West Bank and Gaza residents say in this survey is that, to top it off, the corruption of their governments is added to the Israeli blockade,” she denounces, taking aim at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, elected in 2005 today it only receives “9%” of positive opinions.
In addition, in Gaza, before October 7, “two-thirds (of respondents) stated that they did not have the means to feed their families in the last 30 days,” the researcher argues. Evidence that Gaza society is economically “disadvantaged” and vulnerable to the “corrupt power of Hamas.”
Although no elections have taken place since 2006, “the majority of Palestinians in Gaza deny Hamas’ authoritarianism,” emphasizes Amaney Jamal. In fact, on the eve of October 7, “60% said they could not express their opinions freely and openly, and 72% said they could not demonstrate peacefully for fear of reprisals.”
Has this hostility of Palestinian public opinion toward Hamas increased or decreased after six weeks of war that killed 1,200 people in Israel and nearly 14,900 in Gaza?
Ms. Jamal and Mr. Robbins responded in part in “Foreign Affairs” in late October: “The suffering the Palestinians have endured has likely radicalized them, which could undermine long-term peace and stability.”
Before October 7, “80%” of Palestinians surveyed wanted a diplomatic agreement with Israel, including “56% for a two-state solution, the rest for a one-state solution or a confederation,” the researcher explains. for the “The people of Gaza seemed open to a two-state solution, to a peaceful reconciliation with Israel on the basis of the 1967 borders.”
Only the remaining “20%” were inclined toward “armed resistance,” she emphasizes.
