Cease Firing

While Hamas leader Khaled Meshal lives in huge respect by the Palestinian population he claims to represent, goading a neighbouring country to destroy their lives by deliberately placing them in harm's way for propaganda effect in the West, he comes to no harm himself, living in Doha, Qatar. There too he has the respect and prestige he requires as leader of a terrorist group, with funding enough to ensure that the now-bankrupt group is not entirely expunged from the region.

Unless ordinary Palestinians finally emerge from their self-destructive slumber of inaction, willing finally to shed their refugee status and pride themselves at taking the initiative to become a nation capable of self-administration and looking forward into a future devoid of conflict and brimming with opportunity to prosper. It will never happen as long as Hamas rules their little crumpled state. It is an indigent community because it has been so long looted, the funding meant for its support used instead to prepare for war.

A recent poll conducted by a well known and respected Palestinian pollster for David Pollock, a Middle East expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy revealed in its responses, some fascinating and perhaps unexpected results in public opinion. Released in June, the results discovered that the average Palestinian preferred peace and an end to government corruption crime and Hamas's influence on daily life, rather than the crippling status quo.

The biggest shock was that the respondents claimed they would appreciate a reliably steady job -- in Israel -- rather than continued incidents of Hamas rocket fire and Israeli retaliation.

"I was quite surprised by the findings. It is counterintuitive at first glance. But, if you think about the results of the poll, on reflection, they make perfect sense."
"These are people who have lived under Hamas rule for the last seven years and they don't like it. 'Given the nature of the economic problems in Gaza, the corruption, the repressive nature of Hamas rule and, on top of that, of civilians being subjected to danger because they are caught in the middle of Hamas launching rockets and Israel retaliating, you put all that together and it makes perfect sense why Hamas is so unpopular in Gaza."
"What jumped out at me the most in our survey is that so many of the people in Gaza want a job in Israel and there is no chance of this happening now."
"Their own government is a sworn enemy of Israel. They shoot rockets at Israel every day and yet the Gazans themselves wish that they could work in Israel. And that, to me, is remarkable", said Dr. Pollock, from Washington.

Of the 450 respondents questioned, 75% agreed that Hamas should "maintain a ceasefire". Over 70% said non-violent resistance had a "positive impact", and they wished that Israel might open its borders to enable them to travel there to work. A mere 3% of the respondents felt that Mr. Meshaal "should be the president of Palestine in the next two years", with 32.4% supporting Mahmoud Abbas the current president with his pledge to "renounce violence" as a tactic.

Dr. Pollock feels Hamas is in its dying gasps, with Gaza through its deliberate machinations in flames and deaths of Palestinian numbers skyrocketing, with rockets fired daily into Israel, and ongoing declarations by Mr. Meshal that no peace is possible without Israel begging Hamas to halt the rocketry, prepared to offer huge concessions to make that a reality.

"They want to demonstrate that they can hurt Israel, even if their own people, their own movement, doesn't get any benefit out of it. Hurting Israel, in and of itself, is seen as a victory for Hamas." 

Case in point: each time there is a similar confrontation, as there has been on two previous occasions when Hamas's provocations have led the IDF into Gaza, and the international community has clamoured for a cease-fire and Israel has agreed, once Israel withdrew its forces, Hamas would declare victory and great celebrations would ensue, with victory parades and cheering Gazans handing out sweets.

And then, there is the opinion in the West Bank, under the Palestinian Authority. Where Mahmoud Abbas heads the government and Palestinians are not being killed as a by-product of Palestinian provocations and goading, the public evinces a no-surrender response. A newer round of polling conducted by the Arab World For Research & Development, published on Tuesday, revealed that 44% of the 450 Palestinians in the West Ban who were surveyed have no wish for a ceasefire.

Their positions have hardened, whereas those living directly under hard Hamas day-by-day rule, along with the eruptions of rocket fire and defense response, are more than prepared for a ceasefire.