RAMALLAH, November 27, 2011 (WAFA) - A public opinion poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) published Sunday showed that the majority of respondents (51.2%) said they were satisfied with the decision of the Palestinian leadership to halt negotiations and resort to the United Nations while 15.1% said they were dissatisfied.
A total of 52.5% of the respondents were from the West Bank, 10.0% from Jerusalem, and 37.5% from the Gaza Strip.
In response to a question on how the Palestinian leadership’s UN bid affected their position towards Fatah, almost half of the respondents (46.5%) said they were affected positively, 11.8% said they were affected negatively, and 37.1% said they were affected neither positively nor negatively, said the poll.
Meanwhile, regarding the recent prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, the majority of respondents (85.6%) said they considered the prisoner swap good, while 4.1% said it was bad, added the poll.
JMCC said the prisoner exchange positively affected the position of the majority of respondents (58.1%) towards Hamas, while it negatively impacted the position of a limited number of respondents (3.8%). For 36.3% of respondents, the prisoner exchange neither positively nor negatively affected their position towards Hamas.
The poll showed that the balance of powers between Fatah and Hamas remained the same, with 39.6% of respondents saying they trusted Fatah more, compared to 39.2% in a poll conducted in June 2011. Furthermore, 18.6% said they trusted Hamas, compared to 16.6% in the June 2011 poll, before the UN bid and the prisoner exchange deal.
As for public figures, 25.5% of respondents said they trusted President Mahmoud Abbas more than others, compared to 22.2% in the June 2011 poll. The same applied for Ismail Haniyyeh, where 13.9% of respondents in this poll said they trusted him more in comparison with 13.6% in the June poll.
Regarding the future and role of the Palestinian Authority, 65.8% said it was necessary to perpetuate and maintain the PA, while 22.2% said it should be dissolved. In response to the question about the role of the PA and who it serves more, 62.7% said it serves the interests of the Palestinian people while 24.6% said it serves the interests of Israel.
The poll showed the public’s negative assessment of the Quartet committee’s role: 41.6% of respondents said it played a negative role in the peace process while 15.9% said it played a positive role. Furthermore, 63.5% of respondents said the Quartet was biased towards Israel while 5.7% said it was biased towards the Palestinians.
The Palestinians’ assessment of US President Barack Obama’s policy is still in continuous retreat and has reached its lowest point; 4.9% of respondents said Obama’s policy would increase the chances for achieving peace after it had been 9.9% in April 2010, 23.7% in October 2009 and 35.4% in June 2009, said JMCC.
It also registered an ongoing drop in the public’s support of violent resistance; the majority of respondents, 56.3%, opposed the resumption of military operations against Israeli targets compared to 45.5% in April 2008.
Furthermore, the percentage of supporters of military operations dropped to 29.3% in this poll after it was 49.5% in April 2008. The same trend was found regarding rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, where 40.8% of respondents found them harmful, 38.9% in the West Bank and 44% in the Gaza Strip, which indicates an increase compared to 35.7% in April of 2008.
The poll also showed similar opinions between the West Bank and Gaza regarding general political issues and balances of power. However, there were discrepancies in three areas: the performance of the government, the armed resistance and the future of the PA.
A plurality of 44.7% of respondents in the West Bank said the performance of the Fayyad government had improved, while 28.7% of respondents in the Gaza Strip said the same thing.
JMCC also showed that 71.1% of respondents, who were surveyed in Gaza, want the PA to remain compared to 62.7% in the West Bank.
Furthermore, 58.8% of respondents in the West Bank said the PA serves the interests of the people while 69.3% said the same thing in Gaza. Also, the poll found that 24.8% of those surveyed in the West Bank said that economic conditions have improved under Haniyyeh’s government, compared with 14.9% who said this in the Gaza Strip.
R.Q./F.J.
