Bassem Eid
For me, as a Palestinian human rights activist, one of the most disappointing phenomena of the ongoing war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas is the enduring and indeed increasing support for Hamas among sectors of the Palestinian general public. Many of my friends are reflexively incredulous that some Palestinians could continue to support a violent faction that slaughtered 1,200 Israelis on a single day—Oct. 7—raping and genitally mutilating many of them, and taking more than 240 innocents hostage. The embedded support for Hamas is a complex phenomenon rooted in history, propaganda, and the influence of external forces seeking to exploit the Palestinian cause for their own agendas.
Not coincidentally, support for Hamas is much higher in the West Bank—misgoverned by Hamas's archrivals, the secular nationalist Fatah, which rules the Palestinian Authority (PA)—than in Gaza, whose population is being actively brutalized by Hamas. Popular support for violence persists despite the devastating impact that following radical leaders and ideologies has historically had on the Palestinian people, as poignantly summed up by Israel's Abba Eban when he quipped that Arabs, including the Palestinians, "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
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