There are a variety of things we can draw from the polling results on international support for the radical Muslim group, ISIS. While it is alarming that 27% of young French people support the group, it is also instructive that 85% of Gazans have an unfavorable view of ISIS. What this shows is that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is completely distinct from al-Qaeda or from the lunatics who are overrunning parts of Syria and Iraq.
It should be remembered that both ISIS and Hamas are Sunni organizations, which is why ISIS is fighting the Alawite regime in Syria and the Shiite-dominated government in Iraq, and why Hamas was expelled from Syria. But Gazans are not showing any sectarian affinity for ISIS. Hamas is most associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is also a Sunni organization. The Brotherhood can properly be considered a radical organization. They are certainly quite religiously conservative. But we can see that they are actually quite distinct from more Saudi-inspired groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS.
I know this is all quite complicated, but it actually matters a lot, because the threat from Hamas is often overstated but the threat from ISIS is not. If you are an Israeli who has to run to a bomb shelter several times a day, the distinction might be easy to miss, but it is nonetheless a huge distinction. While it is difficult and painful, you can negotiate with Hamas. You cannot negotiate with ISIS. They are as big of a threat to the Sunni community as they are to Shiites, Christians, Jews, and other religious minorities.
