JMCC Public Opinion Poll No. 32 - Part
I
On Palestinian Attitudes Towards Politics
August 1999
Introduction
JMCC’s latest poll, conducted on 26, 27 August
1999, prior to the signing of Sharm Sheikh agreement, shows a decline in
optimism among Palestinians regarding peace chances during Barak’s reign.;
the results confirm the Palestinian constant position that Palestinians
reject any solution that does not end the Israeli control over Jerusalem.
-
The majority of the Palestinian people (59%) believe that
three months after Barak assumed power in Israel, there seems no improvement
in opportunities to achieve peace in the region compared with (50%) of
Palestinians who thought in March 1999 that Barak winning the Israeli elections
will not improve conditions towards achieving peace. Moreover, (19.7%)
of Palestinians believe that peace chances have narrowed further since
Barak took office while (17.8%) believe peace chances are better now.
-
The issue of Jerusalem in the final-status negotiations received
no less attention amid the Palestinian public opinion. (93.7%) of Palestinians
oppose any solution that keeps Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel,
even if this issue constitutes the final obstacle facing a Palestinian-Israeli
peace treaty. As for the best solution of this issue, (48.9%) said Jerusalem
must be the capital of Palestine while (24.3%) said Jerusalem must be the
capital of the Islamic nation. (10.4%) of Palestinians believe that East
Jerusalem must be the capital of Palestine and West Jerusalem must be the
capital of Israel. (6.7%) demanded that Jerusalem become international
while (5.1%) said Jerusalem should remain unified but a capital for two
states. On PA attention and care towards Jerusalem, (17.5%) said the PA
does not give attention to Jerusalem while (44.5%) said the PA attention
and care are not enough. (33.3%) believe that the PA gives due attention
and care to Jerusalem.
-
The most notable result is the change in public opinion regarding
the popularity of Fateh Movement and President Yasser Arafat among Palestinian
figures. Ratio of Palestinians who support Fateh decreased from (37.6%)
last March to (28%) this month. The same trend occurred in the popularity
of President Arafat with ratio moving down from (38.8%) last March to reach
(28%) this September. The decrease in popularity of Fateh Movement and
President Arafat accounts for the notable increase from (31%) last March
to (41.3%) of Palestinians who do not trust any faction. In addition, (42.2%)
of Palestinians do not trust any Palestinian leader compared with (26.8%)
last March.
-
Regarding the performance of the PA apparatuses, (58.8%)
of the Palestinian people see the performance of the PA ranging between
good and very good while (34.3%) of the respondents believe the PA performance
is somewhere between bad and very bad. (6.9%) did not respond to this question.
On the performance of the PLC, (51.3%) of the Palestinian people consider
it good or very good while (36.7%) viewed it as bad or very bad, a decrease
by 3% compared with a similar question last March. As for the PA security
apparatuses, (8.5%) believe their performance is very good; (45.6%) view
it as good; (21.9%) view it as bad and (15.3%) view it as very bad. (8.7%)
did not answer this question.
-
On the role of the judicial system in Palestine, nearly half
of the respondents (47.7%) view it as good and very good while (24.3%)
believe the role of the judicial system in Palestine is bad.
-
Meanwhile, the majority of the Palestinian people (71.1%)
still believe there is widespread corruption in the PA apparatuses compared
with (4.2%) who do not see any corruption in the PA apparatuses while (17.6%)
believe that corruption is limited.
Finally, the poll tackled the issue of NGOs where (19.2%)
of Palestinians said they are members in NGOs, including (25%) are members
in sports and youth organizations. On their role in the society, (29.4%)
believe they have a good or very good role in the Palestinian society while
(9.3%) believe their role is bad or very bad. (34.2%) said they do not
know enough about those NGOs.
Methodology
A random sample of 1200 people over the age
of 18 were interviewed face-to-face throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip
on 26, 27 August 1999. The interviews were conducted in 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, 763 people were surveyed
from the following areas: Jenin: Jenin, Tubas, al-Far’aa refugee
camp, silat al-Harthieh, ‘Uraba, Silat al-Thahr. Nablus: Nablus,
Bidia, Salfit, Burqa, Nafoura, Beit fureek, Huwara, and Balatah refugee
camp. Tulkarem: Tulkarem ,and ‘Ateel. Qalqilia: Qalqilia
and ‘Azzoun. Hebron: Hebron, Yatta, a-Dhahiria,Halhoul, Idthna,
Beit-Kahel, and al-Shyoukh. Bethlehem: Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Za’tara,
Duheisheh refugee camp, Husan and al-Khader. Jericho: Jericho and
Aqabat Jaber refugee camp Ramallah & Jerusalem: al-Bireh, al-‘Amari
refugee camp, ‘Ein Yabroud, Ramallah, ‘Ein ‘Areek, Kufr Ne’meh, a-Ram,
a-Dahya, Beit liqia, Qalandia refugee camp, Shu’fat, Shu’fat refugee camp,
Old City of Jerusalem, Ras al-Amoud, al-Izarieh, Abu Deis, Kufr ‘Aqab,
Beirnabala, and Silwan.
In the Gaza Strip, 437 people were surveyed
from: Gaza North: Jabalia refugee camp, Jabalia, Beit Lahia and
Beit Hanoun. Gaza: Sheikh Radwan, a-Darji, a-Tufah, Sabra, al-Meghraqa,
a-Zeitoon, a-Nasser, a-Shujaeih, a-Rimal north and south and Shati refugee
camp. Deir al- Balah: Nusseirat refugee camp, Deir al-Balah refugee
camp, Deir al- Balah. Khan Younis: ‘Abassan al-Saghira, Khan Younis
refugee camp, Khan Younis, al-Qararah and Bani Suheila. Rafah: Rafah,
Rafah refugee camp and Tal al-Sultan refugee camp, Shawkat al-Soufi.
Sample Distribution
57.6% of the respondents were from West Bank,
6.0% from Jerusalem, 36.4% from the Gaza Strip.
39.3% said they live in villages, 16.4% in
refugee camps, 44.3% in towns/cities.
45.6% were male, 54.4% were female.
65.2% were married, 28.8%, single, 3.6% widowed,
1.3% divorced, 1.1% no answer.
The average age of the respondents was 34
years.
Occupation respondents
Students 10.7% laborers 11.3% Farmers/fishermen
2.5%
Craftsmen 2.5% Businessmen/private business
8.5%
Employees e.g. secretaries/municipal employees/teachers/nurses
17.4%
Professionals - e.g. doctors/lawyers/ pharmacists/engineers
2.2%
Housewives, unemployed and retired 44.9%
Results
Q.1 In general, how optimistic or pessimistic are you
towards the future?
|
Total |
West Bank |
Gaza Strip |
| Very Optimistic |
6.8
|
6.0
|
8.0
|
| Optimistic |
64.3
|
66.7
|
60.2
|
| Pessimistic |
19.5
|
19.8
|
19.0
|
| Very Pessimistic |
7.6
|
6.3
|
9.8
|
| No answer |
1.8
|
1.2
|
3.0
|
Q.2 In general, what do you feel towards the Israeli-Palestinian
peace process?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Strongly support |
13.9
|
13.9
|
14.0
|
| Somewhat support |
43.8
|
46.5
|
38.9
|
| Neither support nor oppose |
19.1
|
18.6
|
19.9
|
| Somewhat oppose |
10.9
|
8.8
|
14.6
|
| Strongly oppose |
10.0
|
9.3
|
11.2
|
| No answer |
2.3
|
2.9
|
1.4
|
Q.3 In general, how do you evaluate the performance of the
Legislative Council?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very good |
3.9
|
3.6
|
4.6
|
| Good |
47.6
|
49.9
|
43.5
|
| Bad |
24.8
|
21.8
|
30.2
|
| Very Bad |
12.1
|
9.8
|
16.0
|
| No answer |
11.6
|
14.9
|
5.7
|
Q.4 In general, how do you evaluate the performance of
the Palestinian Authority?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very good |
7.0
|
6.6
|
7.7
|
| Good |
51.8
|
53.0
|
49.4
|
| Bad |
23.5
|
21.2
|
27.5
|
| Very Bad |
10.8
|
10.4
|
11.7
|
| No answer |
6.9
|
8.8
|
3.7
|
Q.5 How do you evaluate the role of the Judicial System in
Palestine?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very good |
5.4
|
5.3
|
5.7
|
| Good |
42.3
|
43.1
|
40.7
|
| Bad |
24.8
|
22.0
|
29.5
|
| Very Bad |
13.4
|
12.2
|
15.6
|
| No answer |
14.1
|
17.4
|
8.5
|
Q.6 What do you think of the Palestinian security apparatuses?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very good |
8.5
|
8.8
|
8.2
|
| Good |
45.6
|
46.2
|
44.4
|
| Bad |
21.9
|
19.4
|
26.3
|
| Very Bad |
15.3
|
15.5
|
14.9
|
| No answer |
8.7
|
10.1
|
6.2
|
Q.7 In your opinion, what is the extent of corruption
(if found) in the Palestinian Authority apparatuses or institutions?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Widely spread |
35.8
|
33.6
|
39.8
|
| Somewhat spread |
35.3
|
35.2
|
35.5
|
| A little spread |
17.6
|
17.6
|
17.6
|
| Not spread at all |
4.2
|
4.8
|
3.0
|
| No answer |
7.1
|
8.8
|
4.1
|
Q.8 Three months after the Labor Party, headed by Barak,
assumed power in Israel, do you think that the opportunities of achieving
peace between Israelis and Palestinians are better than before?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Better than before |
17.8
|
16.8
|
19.7
|
| Less than before |
19.7
|
18.1
|
22.4
|
| The situation remains the same |
59.0
|
61.3
|
54.9
|
| No answer |
3.5
|
3.8
|
3.0
|
Q.9 Who is the Palestinian figure you mostly trust?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Yasser Arafat |
28.0
|
25.4
|
32.5
|
| Ahmad Yaseen |
3.6
|
2.5
|
5.5
|
| Haidar Abdul Shafi |
3.2
|
2.4
|
4.6
|
| Sa'eb Erekat |
3.3
|
3.5
|
3.0
|
| Other figures |
11.2
|
13.7
|
6.8
|
| I don't trust anybody |
41.3
|
42.7
|
38.9
|
| No answer |
9.4
|
9.8
|
8.7
|
Q.10 What is the most political faction you mostly trust?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Fateh |
28.0
|
29.1
|
26.1
|
| Hamas |
8.5
|
7.9
|
9.6
|
| Popular Front Party |
2.8
|
3.3
|
1.8
|
| Islamic Jihad |
2.0
|
1.0
|
3.7
|
| Other factions |
3.4
|
3.4
|
3.6
|
| I don't trust any faction |
42.2
|
41.9
|
42.6
|
| No answer |
13.1
|
13.4
|
12.6
|
Q.11 When you say Jerusalem which of this do you mean?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| The Old City |
12.3
|
13.1
|
11.1
|
| East Jerusalem before June 6, 1967 |
17.2
|
20.4
|
11.7
|
| Jerusalem - East & West, before the expansion on
June 9, 1967 |
26.2
|
29.4
|
20.6
|
| The Israeli's Municipality boundaries in 1999 |
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
| Israeli greater Jerusalem |
2.3
|
2.6
|
1.6
|
| The Palestinian Jerusalem governance |
33.2
|
26.9
|
44.2
|
| I don't know |
5.0
|
5.5
|
4.1
|
| No answer |
3.3
|
1.6
|
6.2
|
Q. 12 If Jerusalem represents the last obstacle for signing
the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, would you then support
the idea of making Jerusalem the unified capital of Israel?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Agree |
2.0
|
2.5
|
1.2
|
| Disagree |
93.7
|
93.2
|
94.5
|
| I don't know |
2.8
|
2.8
|
2.7
|
| No answer |
1.5
|
1.5
|
1.6
|
Q.13 In your opinion, what is the best final solution
for Jerusalem issue?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Unified capital of Israel |
0.1
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
| West Jerusalem for Israel, Old City under joint sovereignty,
and East Jerusalem under the Palestinian sovereignty |
2.9
|
3.8
|
1.3
|
| East Jerusalem the capital of the Palestinian state,
and West Jerusalem the capital of the Israeli state |
10.4
|
12.5
|
6.9
|
| Jerusalem as an open city and a capital for both states |
5.1
|
6.7
|
2.3
|
| International Jerusalem |
6.7
|
8.0
|
4.3
|
| The unified capital for the Palestinian state |
48.9
|
42.3
|
60.2
|
| The capital of the Islamic nation |
24.3
|
24.1
|
24.5
|
| No answer |
1.6
|
2.5
|
0.5
|
Q.14 Some people think that the Palestinian Authority
cares about Jerusalem issue, others believe that the Palestinian Authority
ignores it, what do you think:
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| The Palestinain Authority cares about Jerusalem issue |
33.3
|
35.4
|
29.5
|
| The Palestinian Authority doesn't care enough about Jerusalem
issue |
44.5
|
40.6
|
51.3
|
| The Palestinian Authority doesn't care about Jerusalem
issue |
17.5
|
18.2
|
16.5
|
| No answer |
4.7
|
5.8
|
2.7
|
Q.15 In general, how do you evaluate the local services
which the municipality / the village council provides in your city or village?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Good |
27.4
|
33.0
|
17.6
|
| Very good |
6.8
|
8.0
|
4.8
|
| Excellent |
3.5
|
4.7
|
1.4
|
| Fair |
28.7
|
26.0
|
33.4
|
| Weak |
29.3
|
22.8
|
40.5
|
| No answer |
4.3
|
5.5
|
2.3
|
Q.16 If you needed an urgent help on a social issue, to
whom do you resort first?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| The municipal council of the city |
8.0
|
11.5
|
1.8
|
| The Palestinian Authority representative of my area or
the Palestinian Legislative Council's member |
6.5
|
6.8
|
5.9
|
| The representative of my party (ex.: Fateh, Hamas, Islamic
Jihad, etc...) |
6.0
|
7.2
|
3.9
|
| The local chamber of commerce |
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
| Local religious person in charge |
3.3
|
3.7
|
2.7
|
| The Mukhtar (Chief of village) |
8.1
|
5.0
|
13.5
|
| A foreign NGOs |
0.3
|
0.4
|
0.0
|
| The neighbors |
1.9
|
1.7
|
2.3
|
| Charitable organization |
1.4
|
1.8
|
0.7
|
| One of the relatives including husband, wife, etc... |
34.2
|
32.8
|
36.6
|
| I won't resort to anybody (nobody will listen) |
22.3
|
22.3
|
22.4
|
| Others |
1.9
|
1.8
|
2.1
|
| No answer |
5.6
|
4.5
|
7.6
|
Q.17 On a scale of 1 through 5, how would you evaluate
your proficiency in the Hebrew language?
Compromise
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| I know nothing at all (1) |
68.2
|
67.9
|
68.9
|
| I don't know (2) |
8.8
|
10.5
|
5.7
|
| In between (3) |
11.9
|
11.8
|
12.1
|
| I know a little (4) |
5.3
|
4.8
|
5.9
|
| Fluent (5) |
5.3
|
4.5
|
6.9
|
| No answer |
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
Conversation
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| I know nothing at all (1) |
69.3
|
69.5
|
69.1
|
| I don't know (2) |
9.3
|
9.7
|
8.7
|
| In between (3) |
10.1
|
9.7
|
10.8
|
| I know a little (4) |
4.9
|
4.7
|
5.3
|
| Fluent (5) |
5.2
|
4.7
|
5.9
|
| No answer |
1.2
|
1.7
|
0.2
|
Reading
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| I know nothing at all (1) |
79.0
|
80.7
|
76.0
|
| I don't know (2) |
7.2
|
6.0
|
9.3
|
| In between (3) |
6.6
|
5.8
|
8.0
|
| I know a little (4) |
3.1
|
3.1
|
3.0
|
| Fluent (5) |
3.7
|
3.9
|
3.2
|
| No answer |
0.4
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
Writing
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| I know nothing at all (1) |
80.0
|
82.4
|
77.8
|
| I don't know (2) |
6.0
|
4.3
|
9.2
|
| In between (3) |
6.1
|
5.6
|
7.0
|
| I know a little (4) |
2.7
|
2.8
|
2.5
|
| Fluent (5) |
3.8
|
4.2
|
3.0
|
| No answer |
0.6
|
0.7
|
0.5
|
Q.18 When do you usually use the Hebrew Language?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| To watch TV |
8.5
|
6.2
|
12.6
|
| Liten to the radio |
0.3
|
0.5
|
0.0
|
| Read the newspapers |
0.3
|
0.4
|
0.0
|
| For official bureaucratic issues |
2.3
|
3.4
|
0.5
|
| Working needs |
17.3
|
19.4
|
13.7
|
| Chat with friends/social issues |
1.8
|
2.3
|
0.9
|
| Follow up cultural events/ movies |
2.3
|
2.2
|
2.3
|
| Others |
2.5
|
2.7
|
2.3
|
| No answer |
64.7
|
62.9
|
67.7
|
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