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(Reuters)
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Last update - 19:23 09/03/2009
Poll: Hamas more popular after Gaza offensive
By Reuters
Tags: Hamas, Fatah, Gaza 

Hamas's popularity among Palestinians has risen sharply since Israel's three-week offensive against the Islamist group in Gaza last month, an opinion poll released on Monday showed.

If an election were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would beat Mahmoud Abbas, the Western-backed Palestinian president and leader of Fatah, who advocates a peace deal with Israel.

The face-to-face poll of 1,270 people by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research was conducted on March 5-7 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as the rival factions tried to reach agreement on a unity government with Egyptian mediation.
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Hamas, which Western powers shun as a terrorist organization, won a Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006 and seized control of the Gaza Strip the next year in a bloody coup.

Israel responded by tightening its blockade of the coastal enclave, increasing hardships for its 1.5 million residents.

The January war, which Israel launched with the stated aim of stopping cross-border rocket fire by militants, killed about 1,300 Palestinians, Gaza officials said. 13 Israelis were also killed in the hostilities.

The campaign also destroyed 5,000 homes in Gaza and left much of the coastal strip's governmental and economic infrastructure in ruins.

"Despite the visible increase in the popularity of Hamas and Haniyeh", the pollsters reported, the overwhelming majority, 71 percent, believes Palestinians are worse off than they were before the war.

The survey said Haniyeh would garner 47 percent support, beating Abbas with 45 percent, if a presidential election was held today. Three months ago, Abbas received 48 percent and Haniyeh 38 percent.

But if the competition were between Haniyeh and Marwan Barghouti, the popular Fatah leader currently imprisoned by Israel, Barghouthi would win by 61 percent to 34 percent, the survey showed.

Fatah, however, remains the most popular faction with 40 percent of overall support, compared to 42 percent last December, it said. The popularity of Hamas in the same period increased from 28 percent to 33 percent in the latest poll.

The most important priority for Palestinians today, in the eyes of 46 percent of the sample, should be the unification of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Nearly two-thirds believe a Hamas victory in presidential and legislative elections would lead to the tightening of the Israeli-led blockade of the Gaza Strip, whereas nearly as many believe a Fatah victory would mean the end of the blockade.

Respondents in Gaza in particular believe a Hamas victory would perpetuate the blockade and the rift in Palestinian ranks.


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  • Poll: Abbas more popular than Haniyeh after call for Hamas dialogue
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      1.   Why vote and why follow democracy 18:47  |  Joe 09/03/09
      2.   Justification 18:51  |  Christopher 09/03/09
      3.   No Surprises Here 18:59  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/03/09
      4.   An Indication Of How Misguided They Really Are 19:44  |  Bill Foonman 09/03/09
      5.   Mark of Lewiston 19:46  |  Akiva P 09/03/09
      6.   Cast Lead utterly failed 19:49  |  David 09/03/09
      7.   Democracy is a funny thing. 19:58  |  j-dog 09/03/09
      8.   Christopher-is it built on Mexican lands 21:12  |  Labhras 09/03/09
      9.   Christopher-is it built on Mexican lands 3rd try 21:12  |  Labhras 09/03/09
      10.   j-dog--Israel just had an election too 21:20  |  Dave Duncan 09/03/09
      11.   good,maybe another three week offensive would make them even more 21:22  |  do it more often 09/03/09
      12.   j-dog...the same goes for Israel. 21:24  |  Ibrahim 09/03/09
      13.   Another of the great `achievements` of Operation Cast Lead 21:28  |  peacelover 09/03/09
      14.   joe # 1,hamas was recognized as the "democratically elected 21:31  |  democratic gaza,lol 09/03/09
      15.   david,when hundreds of terrorist are killed,you can`t say cast 21:35  |  david too 09/03/09
      16.   well said j-dog,let their arab brothers buy their food 21:37  |  yes sir ree 09/03/09
      17.   Everyone agreed, then, no 2 state solution 22:04  |  Georges H Saab 09/03/09
      18.   Akiva P - HS Frosh 22:06  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/03/09
      19.   it`s what happens when half assed leaders rule 22:14  |  aloe veere 09/03/09
      20.   Likud, Lieberman AND Hamas more popular 22:15  |  Liquidator 09/03/09
      21.   6 David - Olmert Said No 22:26  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/03/09
      22.   cast lead?Mass distruction 22:30  |  billy jack 09/03/09
      23.   # 15 david 23:29  |  Axel 09/03/09
      24.   HAMAS led them into a war.Hamas is more popular then let 23:29  |  PETER SM 09/03/09
      25.   HAMAS led them into a war.Hamas is more popular then let 23:29  |  PETER SM 09/03/09
      26.   All the rogue states/movements of this world must wish...... 23:55  |  Swiss (Dino) 09/03/09
      27.   Hamas popularity 00:16  |  Sanity 10/03/09
      28.   Hamas didn`t want to seize power 00:21  |  AT 10/03/09
      29.   re 8 Labhras wrong again and again and again 00:36  |  alan the real one 10/03/09
      30.   Operation Past Dead 00:49  |  Marvin Gaye 10/03/09
      31.   Not Surprising 01:03  |  Lee Kaplan 10/03/09
      32.   the future looks bleak 01:30  |  Marvin Gaye 10/03/09
      33.   #4 Yeah, Bill Foonman, it`s cazy, isn`t it? 02:25  |  Johnboy 10/03/09
      34.   3 stooges caused this; thank god they are out of next govt. 02:49  |  bernard ross 10/03/09
      35.   Mark of Lewiston 03:11  |  Persian Kitty 10/03/09
      36.   #9, Labhras 03:23  |  Bruce 10/03/09
      37.   Mark and Johnboy capture the key point 03:25  |  David 10/03/09
      38.   If the Arabs are dumb enough to choose Hamas. . . . 05:10  |  MichaelF 10/03/09
      39.   Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research 05:38  |  Fortuna Benmayor 10/03/09
      40.   Persian Kitty - Thanks 05:42  |  Mark of Lewiston 10/03/09
      41.   Good Lets Attack Hamas Again 06:16  |  Baruch Gold 10/03/09
      42.   Thus the reason Israel won`t release Barghouti 06:45  |  Palestinian Prince 10/03/09
      43.   NOTHING CHANGE 08:53  |  indrajaya 10/03/09
      44.   Gaza, like Lebanon, has become an Iranian colony. 09:02  |  Jean Van Daem 10/03/09
      45.   Marvin Gaye 8 years of missile created plenty of hatred for Gaza 11:12  |  x-ray 10/03/09
      46.   marvin gaye@30 we`ll take what we can get and if cutting 15:45  |  david too 10/03/09
      47.   Free Barghouti 15:58  |  Sanity 10/03/09
      48.   Hamas PR war vs.Israel`s impossible military goal. 05:08  |  keifer123058 29/07/09
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