In Poll of Palestinians, Majority Support Armed Conflict, Hamas
Some 60% of Palestinian adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip support returning to an armed conflict against Israel and an intifada, according to a new poll. In addition, support for a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict dropped from one-third to one-fifth in three months, likely due to the unrest between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel, according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which conducted the survey of 1,200 adults interviewed face to face in 120 randomly selected locations in the West Bank and Gaza on June 9-12. The margin of error is +/-3%.
Some 77% of those surveyed said that they believe that Hamas won the recent cross-border conflict with Israel and 65% said they believe the confrontation stopped the expulsion of several Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem. In addition, 94% of respondents said that they were “proud” of Gaza’s performance during the conflict.
The survey was taken several weeks after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is serving the 15th year of a four-year term as president, canceled Palestinian legislative and presidential elections, saying they could not be held unless Israel allows residents of east Jerusalem vote in physical polling stations, which Israel has not authorized.
But two-thirds of the Palestinian public believe that Abbas postponed the elections because he was concerned about their outcome, according to the survey, which also showed Abbas losing the election in three different scenarios. Meanwhile, some 53% of those surveyed said they believe that Hamas is best suited to represent and lead the Palestinian people, compared to 14% who believe that Fatah, led by President Abbas, is better suited to do so. Some 56% believe that the PA has become a burden on the Palestinian people. The poll also found that more than 70% want to hold legislative and presidential elections soon and a similar percentage wants the PA to impose elections in East Jerusalem despite Israeli objection, rather than wait for an Israeli approval.
“The current findings are not fundamentally different from similar findings we obtained in the past immediately after similar Hamas-Israel confrontations. Therefore, they might be reflecting a temporary emotional reaction that might revert back to where things stood before the confrontations. The change from emotional to normal attitudes usually takes three to six months, as can be seen in our previous polls,” the center said on its website.
