October 27, 2006: Palestinian opinion polls show that Hamas has lost some popular support since taking power last Spring, and is now about even with the long time ruling party; Fatah. Actually, both Fatah and Hamas have become less popular in the last six months. Back then, each had about 42 percent support, with Hamas having an edge in the elections. But now, both have lost about a quarter of their support. However, in one area, Hamas still has an edge, some 60 percent of Palestinians still support the Hamas policy of not recognizing Israel's right to exist. Both Palestinians and Israelis have lost faith in negotiations. While most Palestinians believe Israel should not exist, Israelis return the favor, and back the current policy of just walling off the Palestinian territories and having as little to do with them as possible.
Palestinians believe that, in the long term, they will win. They are encouraged by increasing support by leftists in Europe and North America, and consider it possible that countries in both these regions will eventually support Palestinian terrorism, and put sanctions on Israel. The culture of corruption among the Palestinians means that their leadership is dominated by demagogues and radicals who try to out-do each other in making extreme statements, and backing suicidal (to Western eyes) strategies. Palestinians of a more rational outlook, try to emigrate. Thus the pro-terrorist component of the Palestinian population has been growing over the last four decades. The Palestinian emigrant community, which has prospered, has become a major source of income for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The emigrant community also gives lip service to the Palestinian terrorist groups, while not wanting to be anywhere near that sort of activity themselves.
