RAMALLAH, June 9 (JMCC) - A majority of Palestinians support plans to seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this year, found a
poll released Wednesday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre.
The survey, carried out between May 31 and June 4, found that almost 65% of Palestinians think that the UN bid will advance Palestinian interests. Interestingly, the figure is even higher in Hamas-governed Gaza, where 71.7% of respondents said they support the move proposed by President Mahmoud Abbas.
Only 4.6% of respondents said they thought the step would harm Palestinian interests. Instead, just over 25% of Palestinians thought that seeking recognition at the UN wouldn't make any difference.
In a show of optimism, 63.6% of respondents said they were somewhat or very optimistic that their leaders would gain the support of the majority of world countries at the United Nations.
The public opinion poll was carried out through face-to-face interviews of 1,198 adults in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and had a margin of error of three percentage points.