Mar 15, 2024
In regard to the support for Hamas and the events of October 7. The problem is that one just cannot reliably measure this during escalation of a conflict (the poll cited here is from December). A war radicalizes because it forces people to follow war rhetoric, otherwise people risk to be perceived as traitors (and this is true for polls at both sides). Much more relevant as an indication of the support for Hamas is the situation on October 6th. Fortunately there is a reliable poll on that date: https://www.arabbarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/what-palestinians-really-think-of-hamas-2023-10-26-08-4941.pdf and the political support for Hamas was actually very limited in Gaza on that day.
