Abbas popularity dips over response to Goldstone Gaza report
Poll reveals that Abass's Fatah party and Hamas would be neck-and-neck if elections were to be held today.
By Reuters Tags: Goldstone report Hamas Mahmoud Abbas Israel newsAnger among Palestinians over President Mahmoud Abbas's original position on a Gaza war report critical of Israel has cost him public support in a rivalry with Hamas, a poll showed on Sunday.
The survey by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) indicated Abbas would receive 16.8 percent of the vote, with Hamas Islamist leader Ismail Haniyeh running neck-and-neck with 16 percent, if a presidential election was held now.
In terms of overall popularity in the West Bank and in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Abbas's rating dropped to 12.1 percent from 17.8 percent in the previous JMCC poll in June.
Haniyeh's approval rating held steady at 14.2 percent.
Abbas, whose Fatah party lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in fighting in 2007, has said his administration erred in approving a UN decision in Geneva two weeks ago to delay action on the report on the December-January Gaza war.
He was widely believed to have bowed to U.S. pressure over the matter, taking a stance that surprised and angered many Palestinians and, according to the JMCC, led to his popularity decline in the new poll.
In a special session proposed by the Palestinians, the UN Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed the report by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, who accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes but was more critical of Israeli actions.
The council passed a resolution that singled out Israel for censure without referring to any wrongdoing by Hamas.
Abbas has said he would proceed with plans to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in January unless Hamas agreed to a deal proposed by Egypt to delay the ballot until June.
Egypt has been trying to mediate a reconciliation pact between Fatah, which has accepted the unity proposal, and Hamas, which is still weighing the plan.
The JMCC said it interviewed 1,200 people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip between Oct. 7 and 11, a few days after the Palestinian Authority agreed to defer the UN report. It said the poll had a margin of error of three percent.
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The Pals are not idiots whatever their leaders say.
Abbas gives too many concessions to Israel and received nothing in return. He has cracked down on Hamas heavily in the West Bank, he cooperates with the Shin Bet and arrests everyone they ask him to, he turned a blind eye on settlements allowing Israel to build more than ever since 2001. And what has all this collaboration received in return? NOTHING! Abbas is too weak and gets taken advantage of by Israel/America.
How can you measure this guy's popularity when it is almost non-existent? The pathetic numbers are that only 32 percent of the Pals would vote for president if an election was held tomorrow. The Pals are still their own worst enemy. Fatah and Hamas have managed to literally stab each other in the back (ok, they shoot each other and throw live bodies off of buildings, instead of using knives). The Palestinians have no confidence in their own leadership, and it's time for the press to start questioning why the Palestinians seem to dig themselves deeper into the much, year after year after year. Abbas and Haniyeh hold on to the outdated and illegal concept of "legitimate resistance to the occupation by any means", but Goldstone has joined human rights NGOs in recognizing Palestinian policies of war crimes against Israel. Instead of concentrating on the current crop of losers, the media should be asking the Pals what they're doing to generate new leadership and new polices.
Abbas should declare that he is an Israeli and not a Palestinian. He should be part of the Israeli cabinet and he too should be tried as a war criminal.
the issue of Hamas using human shields. There was little or no evidence. However thee was plenty of evidence that the most moral army carried out a wide spread use of thei so called (Johnny procedure. Google the following and it will take you to the report where it deals with Human shields . E. Forcing civilians to remain in an area for the specific purpose of sheltering that area or forces in that area from attack 475. As discussed in more detail in other parts of the report, the Mission asked numerous witnesses in Gaza why they had stayed in their homes in spite of the shelling, bombing and Israeli ground invasion. They stated that they had decided to stay put either because they had experienced previous incursions and, based on past experience, did not think they would be at risk as long as they remained indoors329 or because they had no safe place to go.330 In additional, some witnesses stated that they had chosen to stay because they wished to watch over their homes and property.331 The Mission did not find any evidence of civilians being forced to remain in their houses by Palestinian armed groups.
the issue of Hamas using human shields. There was little or no evidence. However thee was plenty of evidence that the most moral army carried out a wide spread use of thei so called (Johnny procedure. Google the following and it will take you to the report where it deals with Human shields . E. Forcing civilians to remain in an area for the specific purpose of sheltering that area or forces in that area from attack 475. As discussed in more detail in other parts of the report, the Mission asked numerous witnesses in Gaza why they had stayed in their homes in spite of the shelling, bombing and Israeli ground invasion. They stated that they had decided to stay put either because they had experienced previous incursions and, based on past experience, did not think they would be at risk as long as they remained indoors329 or because they had no safe place to go.330 In additional, some witnesses stated that they had chosen to stay because they wished to watch over their homes and property.331 The Mission did not find any evidence of civilians being forced to remain in their houses by Palestinian armed groups.
The man is finished, finished and finished. He doesn't have ANY popularity or credibility at all. He's a US and Israeli puppet. He's Abu Quizling, as my sister Mirvat would say.
- achieved between hamas & fatah, after 60 years & 75 unsuccessful "rounds" of talks in egypt. simultaneously a merger of the two parties will be announced. it won't be such an important piece of news, though, as by then real peace will have reigned in the ME for 4 decades already w/power being held mostly by a truly moderate pal. party tracing its origins to the politics surrounding former PM fayyad, whose leadership is merited w/achieving peace in the first place. the new fatah-hamas party, nicknamed "famas" will be welcomed into pal. politics & indeed will score a few % points in the next elections, but will largely hold a "nostalgic value" for most pals.
Abbas has to go. He is not fit to lead the Palestinians. After all he is a sick man and has to be replaced.
It is amazing that Mr. Abbas can stand up straight for he has no spine. One can not achieve genuine peace when he is a doormat.
It is perfectly legitimate to point out that the report did not address the question of human shielding by Hamas, but since it did condemn Hamas's rocket attacks against Israeli civilians it is, all due respect, a lie to claim that the report doesn't accuse Hamas of any wrong doing.