Surveying Palestinian Opinions July 2007
Political chaos takes its toll:
A new poll says Palestinians are losing faith in their political leaders
and want reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah
Press release/summary: English
- Norwegian
According to a new poll by Fafo, Palestinians see national reconciliation
as more important than peace talks with Israel. Eighty-five per cent of
those polled would like to see negotiations between Fatah and Hamas. Fifty-eight
per cent say they want peace negotiations with Israel, which is a decline
by 20 percentage points from a similar poll in December 2006.
Palestinians are in disagreement on the formation of the recent government.
Half of the population believes the President did the right thing by instating
the Emergency government. However, thirty-one per cent of the Palestinians
have little or no trust in the Emergency Government. A similar share of
the population is distrustful of the Hamas Government in Gaza. Thirty-seven
per cent think Mr. Fayyad's government is Palestine's legitimate government,
while 28% believe Mr. Haniyeh's Hamas government is legitimate. The remainder
of those polled - 35% - believes neither government is legitimate.
If elections took place today, Fatah would win a majority of the popular
vote by a clear margin. Fatah would receive 45% of the votes of those
polled and Hamas 22%.
Forty-four per cent of the population want to establish Islamic rule
of law in Gaza. 89% of these want the same for the West Bank.
Fafo carried out an opinion poll of 1,953 adult individuals in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip in the period 2-12 July. The study entailed face-to-face
interviews with persons aged 18 years and older. It gathered information
on all household members' living conditions and the selected individuals'
attitudes regarding current political affairs, elections, the security
situation, and relations with Israel. The poll was funded by the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Researchers
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