Introduction
-
91% of Palestinians believe that the US role in the peace
process is extremely biased in favor of Israel. In addition, only 0.8%
think the US role is biased towards the Palestinians, while 0.4% think
it plays a neutral role.
-
In general, opposition to the peace process has increased
from the period of April to May 1997 from 23% to 26%, whereas the support
of the peace process has declined, the same period from 73% to 69%. Moreover,
only 12.5% of Palestinians support the Oslo track whereas 55% support it
with caution.
-
The period between April 3 and May 15, 1997 shows a remarkable
change in peopl's attitude towards the role of the Palestinian Authority.
In comparison with the results of April 97, May's results show a sharp
decrease in the percentage of people who think that the PA's role is good
by 12% (79.6% in last month to 67.6% in May). Also, the percentage of people
who think that the PA's role is bad, has remarkably increased by 12% (16%
to 27.9%).
-
In opinions of people towards the role of Palestinian Legislative
Council (PLC), reuslts show a decline of 6.5% (53.8% in April to 47.3%
in May) of the number of people who think PLC's role is good. Also, results
show a sharp decline in people's attitude towards the performance of Arafat.
A comparison with the poll conducted in April, shows a decrease in Arafat's
"good" performance from 67.8% to 53.7% (a decrease by 14%).
-
There is also further decline in people's trust in Palestinian
leaders. Arafat's approval rating fell from 43.4% to 39.8%. In addition,
the number of Palestinians who don't trust any Palestinian figure has increased
from 18% to 25.5%. Moreover, trust in political or religious factions has
also declined. Fateh's percentage delined from 38.5% to 37.9%. Support
for Hamas and other Islamic factions delined from 10.6% and 5% to 10.3%
and 4.2% respectively.
-
A comparison with the April survey shows that the number
of Palestinians who believe that corruption in the Palestinian Authority
is widespread increased from 34.8% in last month to 38.8% in May. Moreover,
the number of people who think that corruption hardly exists in the PA
decreased from 11.8% to 8.7%.
Methodology
A random sample of 1,185 Palestinians, over the age of
18 years, were interviewed throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on 3
and 4 April 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, 750 people were surveyed from the following
areas: Jerusalem: Old city, a-Ram, Dhahya, Silwan, Wadi al-Joz,
Shiekh Jarrah, Ras al-Amoud. Bethlehem: Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit
Shahour, khader, Dihisheh RC. Hebron: Hebron, al-Aroub RC, Bani
Na'im, Al-Dharieh, Rarqoumia, Doura.. Jenin: Jenin, Jenin RC, Toubas,
Zababdeh, Yamoun, Kufr Dan, Ya'bad, Oabatya, al-Shuhad'a. Tulkarem &
Qalqilia: Qalqilia, Tulkarem, Tuklarem RC, Ateel, Allar, Azoun.. Nablus:
Nablu,
Beit Fouriq, Balata RC, Salfit, Burqa, Madama, Asira al-Shamalieh.
Ramallah:
Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Deir Dibwan, Beitounia, Ein 'Ariq, Jalazon RC, Birzeit.,
Jericho: Jericho.
In the Gaza Strip, 435 people were surveyed from: Gaza,
Naser, Al-Darj, al-Tufah, Sheikh Radwan, Khan Younis RC, Sabra, Magahzi
RC, Khan Younis, Rafah RC, Beita, Rimal, Khan Younis al-Balad, Nuseirat,
Rafah/ Tal al-Sultan, Brazil, Deir Al-Balah, Jabalia al-Balad, al-Shija'ieh,
Southern Rimal, Sheikh Agaleen, Shaboura, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahya, Breij
RC Shati RC, Jabalia RC..
The major of error is plus or minus 3% with a confidence
level of 95%.
Sample Distribution
-
55.1% of the respondents were from the West Bank
-
36.6% from the Gaza Strip
-
8.3% from Jerusalem
-
29.7% said they live in villages
-
22.8% in refugee camps
-
47.4% in towns/cities
-
50.4% were male
-
49.5% were female
-
63.1% were married
-
31.1% were single
-
4.1% were widowed
-
1.0% were divorced
-
0.7% No answer
-
The average of age of the respondents was 34 years.
Occupation respondents
Students 12.7%
Waged labourers 11.2%
Housewives 33.4%
Employees eg. secretaries/teachers/nurses/municipal employees
18.4%
Businessmen/private business 5.9%
Farmers/fishermen 2.1%
Craftsmen 1.8%
Professionals - eg. doctors/lawyers/pharmacists/engineers
1.8%
Unemployed 6.4%
Retired 1.8%
No answer 0.8%
Results
Q.1 In general, to what extent would you say you are optimistic
about the future in general? Would you say you are very optimistic, optimistic,
pessimistic, or very pessimistic?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very optimistic |
7.8%
|
7.5%
|
8.3%
|
| Optimistic |
60.9%
|
57.7%
|
66.4%
|
| Pessimistic |
22.5%
|
25.2%
|
17.7%
|
| Very Pessimistic |
6.9%
|
7.6%
|
5.7%
|
| I do not know |
1.7%
|
1.6%
|
1.9%
|
| No answer |
0.2%
|
0.4%
|
0.0%
|
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 |
24.5%
|
23.6%
|
26.0%
|
| Somewhat support |
44.6%
|
39.9%
|
52.9%
|
| Strongly oppose |
12.6%
|
14.3%
|
9.7%
|
| Somewhat oppose |
13.7%
|
16.1%
|
9.4%
|
| I do not know |
0.3%
|
0.4%
|
0.0%
|
| No answer |
4.3%
|
5.7%
|
2.0%
|
Q.3 Which Palestinian political or religious faction do
you trust most?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Fateh |
37.9%
|
38.0%
|
37.7%
|
| Hamas |
10.3%
|
8.0%
|
14.3%
|
| PFLP |
2.9%
|
2.9%
|
2.8%
|
| DFLP |
0.5%
|
0.7%
|
0.2%
|
| Islamic Jihad |
1.4%
|
1.1%
|
2.1%
|
| PPP |
0.4%
|
0.7%
|
0.0%
|
| FIDA |
0.7%
|
0.7%
|
0.7%
|
| Pro Peace Secularists |
0.6%
|
0.9%
|
0.0%
|
| Other Islamic Organization |
4.2%
|
5.3%
|
2.3%
|
| Others |
1.7%
|
1.7%
|
1.8%
|
| Do not trust anyone |
31.3%
|
30.3%
|
33.1%
|
| No answer |
8.1%
|
9.7%
|
5.0%
|
Q. 4 Which Palestinian political or religious personality
do you trust most?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Yasser Arafat |
39.8%
|
35.7%
|
46.9%
|
| Ahmed Yassin |
5.6%
|
4.7%
|
7.1%
|
| Hadidar Abdul Shafi |
3.4%
|
2.7%
|
4.6%
|
| George Habash |
2.6%
|
2.9%
|
2.1%
|
| Hanan Ashrawi |
2.1%
|
2.1%
|
1.8%
|
| Faisal Husseini |
1.6%
|
1.7%
|
1.4%
|
| Sa'eb Erekat |
1.6%
|
1.7%
|
1.4%
|
| Abu Mazen |
0.8%
|
0.5%
|
1.1%
|
| Nayef Hawatmeh |
0.3%
|
0.4%
|
0.0%
|
| Others |
9.5%
|
10.8%
|
6.0%
|
| Do not trust anyone |
25.4%
|
26.9%
|
23.2%
|
| No answer |
7.3%
|
9.9%
|
4.4%
|
Q.5 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 |
10.2%
|
9.7%
|
11.0%
|
| Good |
57.3%
|
55.3%
|
60.7%
|
| Bad |
20.8%
|
21.9%
|
19.1%
|
| Very bad |
7.0%
|
7.3%
|
6.4%
|
| I do not know |
3.7%
|
4.5%
|
2.3%
|
| No answer |
1.0%
|
1.3%
|
0.5%
|
Q.6 In general, how would you rate the overall performance
of the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat? Would you say that his performance
has been good, average, or bad?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Good |
53.8%
|
46.0%
|
67.1%
|
| Average |
30.3%
|
34.3%
|
23.4%
|
| Bad |
11.6%
|
14.1%
|
7.4%
|
| I do not know |
3.0%
|
3.9%
|
1.6%
|
| No answer |
1.3%
|
1.7%
|
0.5%
|
Q. 7 Do you support the continuation of military operations
against Israeli targets as an adequate response to the current political
conditions, or do you oppose it and see it as harmful to Palestinian national
interests?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Support military operations |
34.2%
|
35.1%
|
32.6%
|
| Oppose military operations |
52.7%
|
51.3%
|
55.2%
|
| I do not know |
9.0%
|
8.9%
|
9.2%
|
| No answer |
4.1%
|
4.7%
|
3.0%
|
Q. 8 What about the suicide bombing operations?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Suport suicide operations |
23.6%
|
23.3%
|
24.1%
|
| Oppose suicide operations |
64.7%
|
64.0%
|
66.0%
|
| I do not know |
7.8%
|
7.9%
|
7.8%
|
| No answer |
3.9%
|
4.8%
|
2.1%
|
Q. 9 In general, how would you rate the overall of the
Palestinian Legislative Council? Would you say that its performance has
been very good, good, bad, or very bad?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very good |
5.9%
|
6.3%
|
5.3%
|
| Good |
41.4%
|
41.6%
|
41.1%
|
| Bad |
25.0%
|
23.1%
|
28.3%
|
| Very bad |
9.7%
|
8.9%
|
11.0%
|
| I do not know |
17.0%
|
19.2%
|
13.1%
|
| No answer |
1.0%
|
0.9%
|
1.2%
|
Q.10 Now that Oslo agreements have been partially implemented
for some time, to what extent you support or oppose such agreements.?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Strongly support |
12.5%
|
12.4%
|
12.6%
|
| Support with cautious |
55.1%
|
51.9%
|
60.7%
|
| Oppose |
23.4%
|
26.4%
|
18.2%
|
| I do not know |
7.2%
|
7.5%
|
6.7%
|
| No answer |
1.8%
|
1.8%
|
1.8%
|
Q. 11 The United States is acting as the sponsor and broker
in the peace process, do you believe that the US is siding with the Palestinians,
acting as netural side, or biased towards Israel?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Siding with the Palestinians |
0.8%
|
0.9%
|
0.7%
|
| Netural side |
4.1%
|
2.8%
|
6.4%
|
| Biased towards Israel |
91.2%
|
92.1%
|
89.7%
|
| I do not know |
2.9%
|
2.9%
|
2.8%
|
| No answer |
1.0%
|
1.3%
|
0.4%
|
Q. 12 What is your general opinion about returnees? Better
than you expected, similar to your expectations or than you expected?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Better than I expected |
9.5%
|
8.3%
|
11.7%
|
| Similar to my expectations |
30.8%
|
32.7%
|
27.6%
|
| Worse than I expected |
46.8%
|
43.5%
|
52.6%
|
| I do not know |
11.1%
|
13.3%
|
7.1%
|
| No answer |
1.8%
|
2.2%
|
1.0%
|
Q.13 Some 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 there isn't any corruption. What do you think?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| There is a great deal |
38.8%
|
36.5%
|
42.8%
|
| There is a fair amount |
43.8%
|
45.2%
|
41.4%
|
| There is hardly any at all |
8.7%
|
9.1%
|
8.0%
|
| I do not know |
7.7%
|
8.1%
|
6.9%
|
| No answer |
1.0%
|
1.1%
|
0.9%
|
