Commentator Bassam Tawil assesses a new poll among Pestilinians that finds most Pestilinians prefer terrorism and violence over peaceful coexistence with Israel. Highlights of the poll…
Palestinians: We Prefer Terrorism to Peace with Israel
Palestinians: We Prefer Terrorism to Peace with Israel
- The findings of the poll, which was conducted between June 7 and 11, show that the Biden Administration and all those who continue to talk about reviving the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians are living under an illusion. The results of the poll indicate that most Palestinians are more interested in killing Jews than making peace with them. The results, in addition, show that most Palestinians want as a successor to their current leader, PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who has ties to terror.
- According to the poll, the largest percentage of Palestinians (24%) believe that the rise of extremist Islamist terror groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was "the most positive or the best thing that has happened to the Palestinian people since the Nakba."
- [A] majority of the Palestinians see terrorist groups and the murder of Jews -- not the construction of schools and hospitals -- as their proudest accomplishment over the past seven decades.
- More than half of the Palestinians, the poll showed, prefer an "armed struggle" (terrorism) against Israel to negotiations with it.
- The only thing that seems to disturb the Palestinian public is the possibility that Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority security forces might go after the terror groups.
- The armed terrorists of these groups are regularly hailed by Palestinians as heroes and martyrs.
- The Palestinians want the gunmen to remain on the streets and continue their terror attacks against Jews. The vast majority (86%) say that the PA does not have the right to arrest members of these terrors groups to prevent them from carrying out attacks against Israel. This view seems to be one of the reasons that Abbas is reluctant to order his security forces to crack down on these terror groups and confiscate their weapons. Abbas is undoubtedly aware of the widespread support the terrorists enjoy among the Palestinian people. He undoubtedly knows that if he goes against the terrorists, he will be denounced by his people as a traitor and Israeli collaborator. Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are already facing severe criticism for conducting security coordination with Israeli security forces in the West Bank.
- According to the latest PSR poll, support for the concept of the "two-state solution" stands at 28% and opposition stands at 70%. A poll conducted by the same center three months earlier showed that support for the "two-state solution" stood at only 27%, while opposition to it stood at 71%.
- When it comes to choosing their leaders, Palestinians again showed that they prefer a candidate who killed Jews and wants to destroy Israel to anyone who is perceived as being overly moderate towards Israel.