Americans are told that Hamas is very different from the ordinary citizens living in Gaza and the West Bank. Only the former are terrorists, while the latter are innocent, just as you and I are. However, Americans should look to what these “ordinary citizens” had to say when surveyed to get a better feel for who they really are.
Bizreil University, located in the West Bank, conducted a survey in Gaza and the West Bank. It found that the local Arabs overwhelmingly supported the October 7 massacre. In most of the world, millions have been horrified at the October 7 beheading and burning of babies in front of their parents, the rape of grandmothers, and dead people missing limbs or with disfigured faces. For Gazans and West Bankians, though, the survey found that, after the October 7 massacre in Israel, 98% now feel even prouder than before to be “Palestinians.”
Zero percent of the surveyed had a positive view of the United States. The country that is most admired is Russia. The United States, on average, gives people in the West Bank and Gaza $600 million in aid a year. Recently, another $100 million has been sent to Gaza for humanitarian aid.
Image: A pro-Hamas rally in the West Bank in 2022 (cropped). YouTube screen grab.
Recently, the United States renewed aid to a UN organization that supports Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. The Trump administration had stopped that aid because some was being used to teach anti-Semitism and to support terrorists. The renewed aid has conditions that forbid this, which seems reasonable. Why should American taxpayers be paying to stoke racism that can lead to terrorizing our Israeli ally? Americans can’t be complicit in Hamas’ intended genocide.
Meanwhile, Russia sends these same people about $10 million in aid annually. Russia, though, is rumored to be helping Hamas. Russia’s relationship with Hamas, a relationship that has been getting stronger, gives Hamas legitimacy with a global power.
Nor will you hear the local Arabs complaining about Russia funding Hamas because these locals, like Russia, strongly support Hamas. Thus, the survey found that West Bank and Gaza residents overwhelmingly support local terror organizations, with 76% saying they support Hamas, 84% supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 80% supporting the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, and 89% supporting the al-Qassam Brigades.
And for those who say the questions were just asked of the wrong people—of the fanatics—that’s not what Bizreil University said. Instead, according to the University, the poll was conducted to reduce biased opinions. “The poll’s sample includes all socioeconomic groups, ensuring equal representation of adult men and women, and is proportionately distributed across the West Bank and Gaza.”
The fact that your patriotism soars after your nation inflicts unspeakable tragedies on Israeli babies does not speak well for anyone claiming that residents of the West Bank and Gaza are people like you and me. Those who support militants—particularly Hamas—do not point to blameless people. Instead of listening to American politicians extolling the victimization of innocent civilians in Gaza, Americans might want to get their data from the horse’s mouth.
(Note: the residents of these areas identify as “Palestinians,” which is a misnomer, which is why this essay doesn’t use it. Up until 1967, “Palestinians” referred to the Jewish residents of the region, acknowledging that they had been there since the Roman conquest and renaming. In the almost two millennia before that, they’d been Israelites or Judeans. The Arab residents, for the most part, date back no earlier than 1830, and identified with their tribe or region of origin. The change was a political response to the stunning Arab loss in the 1967 War. As Walid Shoebat said, “On June 4, 1967, I was a Jordanian, and overnight I became a Palestinian.”)