RAMALLAH, Sept. 6, 2017 - Unprecedented numbers of Palestinians say they don't trust any Palestinian faction, at the same time that imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti has risen markedly as a possible presidential candidate, according to the
Jerusalem Media and Communications Center poll released on Wednesday.
The results indicate that Palestinian politics is undergoing an important change, with fewer Palestinians engaged in the internal political process after years without the holding of general elections. These recent political dropouts are by and large falling away from the Fatah faction, which continues to gain the trust of 25 percent of those polled.
Those who trust no faction were 43 percent, with a remarkable half of West Bank respondents in this category. Trust in Hamas remained at approximately 14% since June 2016.
At the same time, Barghouti appears to be riding a wave of support, garnering one-quarter of the vote in a presidential race where his closest competitors are Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and exiled former Fatah security head Mohammed Dahlan.
Detailed poll results
can be viewed in English and Arabic here.