The Foundation for Defense of Democracies just concluded a study on the Palestinian social media with participants in Gaza and the West Bank, including all who identified themselves as Palestinians in the forumsphere. The study was carried out to assess and gauge the Palestinian sentiment of the current state of affairs in the territories. The conflict that currently grip the Palestinian territories between the two prominent factions Hamas and Fateh. Iran’s influence in the Gaza strip, and the outlook on the peace process and Israel in general.
Under the title: Palestinian Pulse, what policymakers can learn from Palestinian Social Media, the study provides an insight into the current mood of the supporters of different factions. The major trends studied showed that Hamas supporters are backing the group’s leadership in its stance on the hopelessness of negotiating with Israel, the same view was shared with the Salafists. Second, the study highlighted the weakness of, and the divided Fateh faction, between a supporter and an opponent of negotiation with Israel. Third, the study found little evidence that Hamas and Fateh will not be making amends anytime soon. Fourth, Palestinians, if they are not welcoming Iran’s intervention in the Palestinian cause, they are not rejecting it.
The debate in the Palestinian social media was a reflection of the reality on the ground. I draw attention to two important trends found in the study: first, “Fateh’s members and supporter are, at best, ambivalent about the idea of peace with Israel.” In this regard, they are in sync with Hamas and the Salafists. Second, all Palestinian factions regard the prime minister “Fayyad as a western puppet, newspaper articles appear to support the notion that this may also be the prevailing sentiment among the broader West Bank community” not just in Gaza. In addition, the FDD study derived three broad trends: a) Palestinian social media is dominated by users who harbor radicalized perspectives, b) Little cross-over between radical and liberal sites, c) Palestinians who espouse moderate or liberal viewpoints online are inclined to blog in English rather than Arabic.
The relative freedom and space of the internet offer Arab youth and intellectuals a chance to express and debate matters that are important and dear to them, this should serve as a window for Arab governments into the aspirations of the masses that they rule. A portrait of how the populace envision the ideal political system. Similarly, the FDD study concluded that “The Obama administration must address the challenges the trends underscore before making additional commitments to the Palestinians, particularly in light of its indications that could back the creation of a Palestinian state in 2011”. With this division between Palestinians it would be prudent not to place all bets of security and peace on two states solution, and maybe it is time to start contemplating a one state solution.
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