Poll: Palestinians support suicide bombings, don't trust Abu Mazen
By israelinsider staff April 26, 2003
The most recent poll by the Palestinian-run Jerusalem Media & Communication Centre indicates that only a small minority of Palestinians (15.2%) believe that a violence-free approach best serves the Palestinian interest. The overwhelming majority (65.3%) support continuing the violence against Israel, 60.5% support "military operations" inside Israel and 59.9% support suicide bombings against Israeli civilians.
69.9% were pessimistic or very pessimistic about the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Onlu 13.1% said the peace process is still alive and there is a possibility of resuming negotiations.
75.3% "strongly" or "somewhat" support "the continuation of the al-Aqsa Intifada in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
Palestinians favor either pursuing only violence ("Intifada") (29.8%) or a combination of "Intifada and negotiations together (48.6%). 87.9% support the Intifada in one form or another.
64.6% support the resumption of military operations against Israeli targets as a suitable response 25.1% consider the operation "harmful to Palestinian national interests."
51.9% support a two-state formula as favored solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict, while others believe that historic Palestine cannot be divided and thus the favored solution is a bi-national state on all of Palestine wherein Palestinians and Israelis enjoy equal representation and rights.
67.8% believe the creation of a Prime Ministerial position "came from external pressures and influences" rather than as a result of a Palestinian conviction that this is in the interest of the Palestinian people or a combination of the two.
21.7% consider Yasser Arafat as the Palestinian personality they trust the most, followed by Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin 9.7, imprisoned Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouthi 3.7 and Hamas spokesman Abdul Aziz Rantisi 3.4. Only 1.8% said they trusted Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) most.
Fatah (22.6%) and Hamas (22.0%) were nearly tied as the most trusted Palestinian political or religious faction.
A random sample of 1201 people over the age of 18 were interviewed face-to-face throughout the West Bank (761) and Gaza Strip (440) between 5 and 9 April 2003. The margin of error is 3 percent.
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