RAMALLAH, December 15, 2012 (WAFA) – A large percentage of Palestinians viewed the results of Israel’s war on Gaza and the vote at the United Nations as victories, according to the results of a new public opinion poll published Saturday.
Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD) said in its new poll conducted early December, a couple of days after the UN vote that made Palestine a non-member state and two weeks after Hamas and Israel have reached a ceasefire that ended eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket attacks at Israel, that over 80% of Palestinians see the results of these two events as victories.
However, a good percentage of Palestinians still believe that the outcome of the UN vote will bring hardships to them and the aftermath of the Gaza war will not change anything on the ground.
According to the survey of 1,200 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent, 85% of the respondents strongly believe that the UN vote was a victory for the Palestinian cause and only 14% disagree.
In addition, 79% were hopeful that the UN vote will be followed by tangible progress towards Palestinian independence, 85% believe that the vote will strengthen the Palestinian Authority and 79% believe that it was a victory for President Mahmoud Abbas’ peace-oriented approach to Palestinian independence.
At the same time, 78% believe the UN vote will lead to punitive actions such as expanded settlement activity in the West Bank and 57% said it will negatively affect the economy of the West Bank.
Respondents on questions about the Gaza war also gave positive responses. Around 90% said the confrontations and the resulting truce represent a victory for the Palestinians and 84% said they were hopeful that it will be followed by tangible progress towards Palestinian independence.
The poll said 88% believe that the results of the confrontation in Gaza prove that armed struggle is the best means of achieving Palestinian independence, 73% believe the Palestinian cause has been advanced by the recent events and 87% are optimistic that the conflict will lead to reconciliation and unity.
At the same time, 50% believe that the confrontations in Gaza will not lead to real change in the affairs of Palestinians.
Results also showed that approval rate for Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was over 80% following the UN vote and the Gaza war and approval rate for their respective political parties was also higher than results shown in previous polls.
It said approval rate for Abbas increased by 12 points from 52% in July to 64% in the new poll and his disapproval rate declined from 43% to 32%.
Haniyeh’s approval rate increased by 27 points from 33% in July to 60%. His disapproval rate went down from 57% in July to 33%.
If elections were to be held today, Abbas would get 25% of the votes compared to 18% for Haniyeh. A total of 25% said they will not choose any of the leaders listed in the poll.
M.S.
