Palestinians in Gaza Defy Hamas to Support UN-Recognition Bid

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"As Khamis Nammour ladles steaming fava-bean stew onto plates of hummus at his Gaza City restaurant, he keeps an eye on the television screen for news about the Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition.

"It’s a good beginning," said Nammour, 36, stirring the Egyptian stew known as fuul. "We have been waiting a long time to have our own state and we deserve it."

His support for achieving Palestinian statehood through the UN isn’t shared by Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement. Its leaders officially frown on the campaign, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from the West Bank, home to 2.6 million people versus 1.6 million in the Gaza Strip. Eighty-six percent of Gazans favor the Abbas push, a survey by a Palestinian research center found, more than in the West Bank."

<snip>

"While pollsters found that support for the UN bid was 86 percent in Gaza, it was 82 percent in the West Bank, according to the independent Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah."

<snip>

"Fifty percent of those surveyed expect the UN effort to succeed, while 43 percent believe it will fail, according to the Sept. 19 poll of 1,200 people, which had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.,

"They appreciate what Abbas is doing, even in Gaza," said Khalil Shikaki, the poll’s director. "Statehood is important to people and they’ve shown a level of patience that indicates they don’t expect to get everything they want immediately."

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-22/palestinians-in-gaza-defy-hamas-to-support-un-recognition-bid.html