Time report: Hamas, Hanieh popularity soars in PA territories

Source: PIC, 09-02-2009

RAMALLAH - A report published by the wide-spread American Time magazine showed that the popularity of the PA prime minister Ismail Hanieh and Hamas Movement have soared in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the aftermath of the "Israeli" war on Gaza.

According to the magazine, the opinion survey was released last Thursday by an independent Palestinian polling organization, which it did not identify, and that Hamas Movement could easily beat Fatah faction and win any elections held these days.

The report also confirmed that popularity of Fatah leader and former PA chief Mahmoud Abbas has sharply declined due to his "unpatriotic" stand during the Israeli war on Gaza.

The magazine added that Abbas failed to condemn the "Israeli" military action against his people in Gaza Strip, and that he attempted to exploit the brutal "Israeli" war to "register points against Hamas", which greatly contributed in decreasing his credibility among the Palestinians and across the Arab and Muslim worlds as well.

Although Abbas was enjoying tangible popularity in the West Bank, which his armed militias control, the quelling of pro-Gaza demonstrations across the West Bank, in addition to the "unsolicited" security coordination with the "Israelis" played additional factors in pushing his popularity and credibility downward.

Finally, the magazine opined that Abbas' low credibility among the Palestinians wouldn't help him in convincing Hamas and the Palestinian people in making peace with the "Israelis", adding that broad sectors of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank look at Abbas and his team as a "corrupt authority".