• Introduction
• Methodology
• Sample distribution
• Occupation of respondents
• Results

The first Palestinian public opinion poll to be conducted following the recent bombings in Jerusalem and the subsequent Israeli measures shows that:

• The level of pessimism regarding the political situation has increased.
• There is increased support for suicide operations.
• There is an increase in the number of people who believe that corruption exists in Palestinian Authority (PA) institutions.
• There is no real change in attitudes toward the peace process in general; only a very slight increase in support for the Olso Accords was found.
• It is clear that the recent events have had an impact on the Palestinian people. The level of those surveyed who said that they were "very pessimistic" has increased from 6.9% in July to 9.0% in August. The level of those surveyed who said that they were "pessimistic" rose from 25.7% in July to 28.3% in August 1997.
• Moreover, the percentage of those who support suicide operations has increased by over 5% to 28.2% compared with 23.6% in May. The percentage of those who oppose such operations decreased from 64.7% in May to 56% today.
• Concerning the Oslo agreements, there appears to be a general impresion that Israel is trying to avoid implementing them. There has been only a slight rise in the level of Oslo supporters; the percentage of those who "strongly support" the Oslo accords has increased to 10.5% from 8.2% in July. Palestinians who oppose the Oslo agreements have decreased to 28.4% today, compared with 30.4% in July. A certain consistency in attitudes towards the peace process in general was noted, which has the been the trend throughout the last two years.

A random sample of 1,195 Palestinians, over the age of 18 years, were interviewed throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on 20, 21 and 22 August 1997. The interviews were conducted on randomly selected homes, and the subjects inside each home were also selected randomly according to Kish tables. The interviews were conducted in 60 sampling points chosen randomly according to population.

In the West Bank, 756 people were surveyed from the following areas: Jerusalem: Old city, a-Ram, Dhahyat al Barid, Beit Hanina, Beith Hanina Refugee Camp (RC), Silwan, Ras al-Amoud, Sheikh Jarrah, Wadi al-Joz. Bethlehem: Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Deiheishe RC. Hebron: Hebron, Fawar RC, Beit Ummar, Dura, Bani Naim, Beit Ula. Jenin: Jenin, Jenin RC, Sanour, Maythaloun, al-Shuhada, 'Arabeh, al-Yamoun, Burqeen, Qabatia, Zababdeh. Tulkarem: Tulkarem, Tuklarem RC, Nazlet Issa, Baqa sharqia, Zeita, Sida. Qalqilia: Qalqilia. Nablus: Nablus, Balta RC, Beit Dajan, 'Asira, Salfit, Bureen, Madama. Ramallah: Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Jalzon RC, Jifna, Beinia, al-Mizra' al-Sharqia. Jericho: Jericho.

In the Gaza Strip, 439 people were surveyed from: Khan Younis, Rafah, Maghazi RC, Gaza City, Sabra, Khan Younis RC, Sheikh Radwan, Al-Daraj, Al-Tuffah, Al-Naser, Jabalia RC, Shati' RC, Breige RC, Beit Lahia, Beith Hanoun, Shaoura RC, Rafah, Al-Rimal, Shoujai'a, Jabalia al-Balad, Deir al-Balah, Tal al-Sultan, Nseirat RC.

The major of error is plus or minus 3% with a confidence level of 95%.

• 56.4% of the respondents were from the West Bank
• 36.7% from the Gaza Strip
• 6.9% from Jerusalem
• 31.6% said they live in villages
• 23.9% in refugee camps
• 44.5% in towns/cities
• 51.2% were male
• 48.8% were female
• 59.2% were married
• 28.8% were single
• 4.9% were widowed
• 1.4% were divorced
• 5.7% No answer
• The average of age of the respondents was 33 years.

Q.1 In general, to what extent would you say you are optimistic about the future? Would you say you are very optimistic, optimistic, pessimistic, or very pessimistic?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Very optimistic	5.8%	5.3%	6.6%
Optimistic	56.0%	54.1%	59.2%
Pessimistic	28.3%	30.4%	24.6%
Very Pessimistic	9.0%	9.7%	7.7%
No answer	0.9%	0.5%	1.9%

Q.2 In general, do you support or oppose the current peace process between the Palestinians and Israel? Do you strongly support, somewhat support, strongly oppose or somewhat oppose?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Strongly support	21.6%	22.2%	20.5%
Somewhat support	46.4%	45.1%	48.5%
Strongly oppose	13.4%	12.6%	14.8%
Somewhat oppose	12.6%	13.9%	10.5%
No answer	6.0%	6.2%	5.7%

Q.3 Now that the Oslo agreements for the transitional period have been implemented for some time, to what extent your support or oppose these agreements?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Strongly support	10.5%	10.6%	10.3%
Cautiously support	53.6%	54.2%	52.6%
Do not support	28.4%	27.9%	29.2%
No answer	7.5%	7.3%	7.9%

Q. 4 In general, how would you rate the overall performance of the Palestinian Authority? Would you say that its performance has been very good, good, bad, or very bad?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Very good	11.7%	11.6%	11.8%
Good	55.0%	55.8%	53.5%
Bad	19.6%	18.9%	20.7%
Very bad	8.7%	8.2%	9.6%
No answer	5.0%	5.5%	4.4%

Q.5 Looking back at the last year and a half since the Council has been elected, what is your opinion about its performance in general? Would you say you are very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied or very dissatisfied?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Very satisfied	5.2%	4.0%	7.3%
Satisfied	33.1%	33.9%	31.9%
Dissatisfied	38.7%	39.4%	37.6%
Very dissatisfied	17.1%	16.7%	17.8%
No answer	5.9%	6.0%	5.4%

Q.6 Some Palestinians think that the level of corruption in the Palestinian Authority is high; others think that there is corruption but it is not widespread; while others think that there isn't any corruption. What do you think?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
There is a great deal	47.3%	43.1%	54.4%
There is a fair amount	43.3%	46.4%	37.8%
There is hardly any at all	5.5%	6.3%	4.1%
No answer	3.9%	4.2%	3.7%

Q. 7 Do your support the suicide bombing against Israeli targets in the current political conditions?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Yes	28.2%	27.1%	30.1%
No	56.0%	56.1%	55.8%
Others	2.9%	2.9%	3.0%
No answer	12.9%	13.9%	11.1%

Q. 8 Do you support or oppose the way Yasser Arafat is handling his job as President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)?
 

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Strongly support	26.9%	22.1%	35.1%
Somewhat support	39.3%	41.9%	34.9%
Strongly oppose	11.7%	12.6%	10.3%
Somewhat oppose	17.6%	18.5%	15.9%
No answer	4.5%	4.9%	3.8%