RAMALLAH, October 13, 2011 (WAFA) – At least 65% of Palestinians support United Nations membership bid, a new poll published on Thursday said.
The poll, published by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), said that 37% of Palestinians believe that the UN initiative advanced the Palestinian cause, while 40% did not see it to have changed anything.
According to the poll conducted between October 2 and 4 on a sample of 1200 Palestinians and which had a 3% margin of error, the level of support for the UN bid did not increase since the June poll, when 64% voiced support for the initiative.
A majority of 58% believe that the UN initiative will lead to a stronger Palestinian negotiating position while one-third did not agree.
About 80% said they listened to President Mahmoud Abbas' speech before the UN General Assembly on September 23, with half saying they listened to the whole thing and the remaining half to parts of it.
As to the performance of President Abbas at the UN, 71% perceived it positively and only 7% perceived his performance negatively.
Only 12% viewed the position of Hamas on the UN initiative positively. In contrast, 45% viewed it negatively while 33% viewed it as neutral.
Amongst respondents, Turkey had the highest positive ratings when it came to assessing the position of various international actors in the context of the UN initiative.
The same trend applied to views of the European Union with just 25% responding that their views had become more positive, while 31% said it was less positive.
The results for the US and Israel were less positive. Only 6% of the respondents viewed the US more positively as a result of its position on the initiative. At least 69% viewed the US less positively.
As to the perceived influence of US President Barack Obama, a majority of 55% did not view him as capable of assisting in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
President Abbas, the PLO, and the PA all received a boost from the UN initiative with two-thirds of the respondents saying that their views of
Abbas had become more positive. Approximately one-quarter said their views had not changed with 8% stating theirs had become less positive.
Fatah also gained from the UN initiative with 61% reporting that their views of Fatah had become more positive.
Prime Minster Fayyad also gained a more positive evaluation from 49% of the respondents.
Receiving the least positive opinions were Hamas and its leader Ismael Haniyeh with 43% saying that their views of Hamas had become less positive.
More than 60% of the respondents continued to voice support for a two-state solution. The level of support for a two-state solution was consistent with polling results going back two years indicating that Palestinians did not view the UN bid to be in conflict with other ongoing efforts to end the struggle.
Half of the respondents felt that Palestinians were now closer to achieving their goal of establishing a state than 20 years ago.
While the majority of respondents support negotiations (64%), 58% support a conditional return to the negotiating table -- a halt to Israeli settlement expansion. Only 5% said they supported an unconditional return to negotiations.
To end the occupation, 60% of Palestinians prefer the use of non-violent means.
M.S.
