Do lots of people support Hamas?

@Lwrenagain Do you think the same of Boko Haram, al qu'ida, al shabaab, ISIS, hezbollah,the Muslim brotherhood, Jabhat al-Nusra...
I do understand your thinking, and you are clearly a person with real empathy and concern, but this is a very real and global problem and these groups of extreme Islamic militants are a threat to us all. If me or you, or our children, were put alongside these people they would gladly inflict the worst possible harm on us, and they would feel holy and justified in doing so.

Listening to the radio it seems that they struggle to find a Palestinian that doesn't.

This is what it boils down to. These current children will grow up and want revenge against Israel for the brutal murders of their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends.

Just try to imagine the trauma. The ptsd. Put yourselves in their position. Is it any wonder a terrorist organisation like hamas exists?

The blame lies at Israel's feet. They have brutally occupied these people for 75 years.

@elprup

In the UK, Hamas is a proscribed organisation. Supporting them is a criminal offence. I really doubt that anyone here is stupid enough to incriminate themselves on an internet forum. I also think that the Venn diagram of 'People stupid enough and unpleasant enough to do so' and 'People who are on mumsnet' would show an extremely small (likely non-existent) cross-over.

If you genuinely want to participate in calls for peace, then I'd suggest making contact with local demo organisers or anyone you know who attends demos near you, and asking them about your concerns. If you feel happy and confident to attend, great, and if you don't, then you could look for alternative ways to support humanitarian aid which feel right for you.

There are lots of organisations that you could consider, such as MSF (Doctors without Borders), Islamic Relief, the ICRC.

I think of hamas as people who've been in a pressure cooker so long they've finally exploded.
I think when you look at any group of people who do truly terrible things there is often years of built up rage and anger. The IRA and their murdering civilians is a prime example. I think people seem to think terrorists who murder innocents are freedom fighting, they're not, they're killing people and it's never justifiable.
We see it with so many things, murderers have usually terrible childhoods, most abusers experience abuse (although most abused people are usually wonderfully kind and will be desperate to break abuse cycles) but we just see when people are completely crushed and angry, when they're at their lowest ebb and vulnerable, they're likely to be groomed by terrorist organisations, they hurt people because they can. Because hurt people hurt people. People who have been on the receiving end of the shitty stick will seek vengeance and they're mostly impartial to who gets the brunt of that, because they're fulled with anger and hate. Its a terrifying cycle and these palestian children who are now orphaned and filled with shell shock and trauma will be commiting atrocities themselves in a few years, because the cycle of horror is so on going.

I hope that I made sense and you can see my train of thought x

You should be more concerned about the atrocities the Israeli government are carrying out on the innocent Palestinian civilians, and have done since the 60s. There is a genocide happening. Wake up.

100% and you can bet all those poor little kids who have lost their entire families, their homes, no hospitals, no food and water will grow up with hate towards their savage aggressors, don’t you see it ? Most of those fighting with Hamas now, have already been through this as kids, and were traumatised and shaped by it.

One day of terror is awful, of course it is, but this is 57 days and nights of terror, it was the same in 2014, 2012, 2008-09, I could go on. What’s the excuse in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, in Golan ? Hamas is a relative recent group, and only in Gaza.

All this I stand with Israel, it’s Hamas shit, no, this is on the Israeli government….totally. I hope to see them in The Hague before I die.

I honestly don’t think a lot of people are thinking that far into it. I overheard colleagues discussing it, one of whom had been to a march, the one who hadn’t asked if Israeli gov and Hamas are both right wing? And their answer was “well Israel definitely is, I’m not sure about Hamas” 🤯 I think by any reasonable measure Hamas are at the very least very very far right.
People just want the violence to stop, but people struggle with apportioning appropriate responsibility for what Hamas does and what they believe. From what I’ve seen, I’ve been trying to keep out of it because I don’t have a strong position on it all so I could be wrong

So you want hamas to rebuild and kill children and babies in Israel again? What a disgustingly vile comment.

Do you want to point me to where I said I "want them to kill all the babies and children in gaza"?
Get off your bloody high horse 😆

I think the majority of people at the pro-Palestine believe that Hamas and the-like (ie the many other Islamic militant groups in Gaza) are a natural consequence of an oppressive neighbour - Israel. They condemn Hamas but by their logic it was brought upon them by themselves.

So do you want them to kill all the babies and children in Gaza then, is that what you are saying. What a disgustingly vile comment.

@elprup when asking yourself how anyone can justify the crimes by Hamas, you must also ask yourself how anyone can justify how the Palestinians are treated by Israel, with their children killed, their children imprisoned and tortured even when innocent, landmarks and homes bulldozed, no human rights, living in fear their entire lives, millions unable to leave Gaza, subjugated, hungry and subject to racist attacks by settlers on a daily basis for decades.

I do not justify Hamas crimes, but I cannot justify the way Palestinians are treated either, for many decades, by Israeli govt.

I would love this^ too.

You took it to mean that… but that’s idealistic. And naive. And the thinking of a decent liberal (like me!)

I am no supporter of Israeli’s longstanding behaviour, or of Hamas, or of the current plight of Palestinian citizens. But really, no, ‘Freedom Fighters’ means terrorists acting for Hamas.

I know how you feel OP.
I would love to wear a Palestine flag but don't want to to be mis-read as support for Hamas.
Likewise, I would love to wear an Israeli flag, but don't want it to be mis-read as support for IDF.

Wouldn’t of thought so. Why would you support terrorists?

@watchingtheworldwithwoe that wasn’t what anybody I was with thought. They weren’t saying ‘free Palestine’, days after they attack they were on stalls on Oxford Street praising ‘glorious freedom fighters’.

I’ve just looked at the picture I took to send to DH at the time and it was a Socialist Workers Party stall, there were loads on Oxford Street. I’ve just googled them and found articles calling for police investigation after they sold pamphlets ‘praising heroism of the terrorists’ in the Times.

This !

Israel starting bombing Khan Yunis 4 mins after the official ceasefire ended. They refused to negotiate further and started bombing. The rockets were in retaliation to that. Palestine has an absolute right to try and defend itself too.

Hamas and IDF are both the same, both terrorists, the only different is the west are financing IDF.

this I agree with.

I've had to come off my social media accounts because of pro hamas friends.
I'm pro Palestine and I'm from a Jewish family so seeing that people I care about can't differentiate between terrorists and see their own antisemitism has been really upsetting.
I fully understand hamas and I think any group of disenfranchised people (I'm aware that's a massive understatement) are likely to become part of a terrorist organisation, of course they are, but understanding why someone is the way they are doesn't mean we can condone or support it. I understand when I look at the past of serial killer Ed kemper why he despised women, I don't support his actions to kill them.
I've like most people who've seen what's happened to the Palestinian children have felt sickened and heartbroken. I believe we're witnessing genocide and war crimes. I've emailed my local MP, I've attended marches when I can, I've given what I can afford financially to charities for these Palestinians who are in desperate need of help.
I will be pro Palestine I imagine until I die. But I will never ever allow antisemitism or pro terrorism to be something I accept or support.

Most people I know do not support any terrorism, Israeli or Palestinian.

Plenty of chanting about hating Jews on these marches yet the police turn a blind eye. Too busy pepper spraying Tommy Robinson when he wasn't acting in a threatening manner and before anybody starts, it was all captured on film.
I'm no TR fan but I hope he sues the arse off the Met, just to make a point