Introduction
JMCC's latest poll is a study on the stance of the Palestinian
people regarding important and sensitive political issues, such as Israeli
elections, executions, the justice system in Palestine and the future of
the Palestinians should the peace process come to a dead end. It also deals
with the position of the Palestinian people towards the relationship between
the PA and the opposition and it concentrates on the quality and level
of religious trends among Palestinians. Following is a summary of the most
important findings:
-
Half of the Palestinian people (50.2%) do not see any difference
between the Likud and Labor Parties, while a minority (24.5%) expect an
improvement in the political situation if the Labor Party wins.
-
The majority of the Palestinian people (70.7%) support a
national coalition government; the majority (67.6%) believe there is a
possibility for cooperation between Fateh and Hamas; the majority (81%)
believe in including Hamas in a national salvation authority.
-
(63.9%) of the Palestinian people will increase their support
for the PA if Islamic Shari'a law is implemented.
-
The majority (56%) oppose the return to armed resistance
in the current situation; (35.7%) support it; (66.5%) oppose suicide operations
and see them as harmful while (26.1%) support them in the current circumstances.
-
In case of the failure of the peace process where it reaches
a dead end, the minority (18.3%) support the idea of one state (in all
of Palestine) while the majority (63.5%) support the establishment of an
Islamic state in all of Palestine if the peace process fails.
-
The issue of Jerusalem is the most important issue according
to the majority of Palestinians (46.2%) followed by the issue of settlements
(30.8%) and then the refugees (14.8%).
Methodology
A random sample of 1199 people over the age of 18 were
interviewed face-to-face throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on 18,
19 March 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, 761 people were surveyed from
the following areas: Jenin: Al-Yamoun, Jenin, Toubas, Urraba, Maythaloun.
Tulkarem
& Qalqilia: Tulkarem, Deir al-Ghousoun, Kufr Jamal, Qalqilia. Nablus:
Nablus,
'Azmout, Haris, Nous Jbeil, Hiwara. Hebron: Hebron, Bani Naim, a-Samou',
Dura, Idthna, Beit Ummar, Sa'eer. Bethlehem:
Bethlehem & Beit
Sahour & Beit Jala, Bateer, Beit Ta'mar. Jericho: Jericho. Ramallah
& al-Bireh: Ramallah & al-Bireh, Birzeit, Kufr Malik, Nilin.
Jerusalem: Abu Dees, Bir Nabala, Kufr 'Aqab, Jabal al-Mukaber, Old
City, Shu'fat & beit Hanina, Wadi al-Jos & Sheikh Jarrah.
In the Gaza Strip, 438 people were surveyed from:
Gaza
North: Jabalia refugee camp, Jablaia, Beit Lahia. Gaza: Shati
refugee camp, Sheikh Radwan, a-Rimal, Al-Daraj, a-Tufah, Zeitoun &
a-Sabra, Shujaei. Deir al-Balah: Nusseirat refugee camp, Maghazi
refugee camp, Dier al-Balah. Khan Younis: Khan younis refugee camp,
'Abassan al-Saghira, Khan Younis, Bani Shuheila. Rafah: Rafah refugee
camp, Tal al-Sultan refugee camp, Rafah.
Sample Distribution
52.5% of the respondents were from West Bank, 11.0% from
Jerusalem, 36.5% from the Gaza Strip.
36.7% said they live in villages, 16.6% in refugee camps,
46.7% in towns/cities.
49.1% were male, 50.9% were female.
65.1% were married, 27.6%, single, 3.9% widowed, 1.7%
divorced, 1.7% no answer.
The average age of the respondents was 34 years.
Occupation respondents
Students 11.4%; Laborers 138%; Housewives 35.9%; Farmers/fishermen
2.6%;
Craftsmen 2.3%; Unemployed 4.7%; Retired 1.6%; Businessmen/private
business 9.4%;
Employees e.g. secretaries/municipal employees/teachers/nurses
15.8%;
Professionals - e.g. doctors/lawyers/ pharmacists/engineers
1.6%; No answer 0.9%.
Results
Q.1 How optimistic or pessimistic are you about reaching
a peaceful Arab-Israeli settlement? Would you say you are:
|
Total |
West Bank |
Gaza Strip |
| Very Optimistic |
4.8
|
4.9
|
4.6
|
| Optimistic |
64.2
|
63.8
|
65.0
|
| Pessimistic |
23.9
|
24.0
|
23.5
|
| Very Pessimistic |
6.3
|
6.8
|
5.5
|
| No answer |
0.8
|
0.5
|
1.4
|
Q.2 What is your opinion about the Oslo agreemnt? Can you
say you strongly support, support, oppose, strongly oppose?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Strongly support |
5.2
|
5.1
|
5.7
|
| Support |
50.9
|
51.1
|
50.5
|
| Oppose |
29.8
|
27.1
|
34.5
|
| Strongly oppose |
8.3
|
8.4
|
8.0
|
| No answer |
5.8
|
8.3
|
1.3
|
Q.3 In general, do you support or oppose the current peace
process between the Palestinians and Israel?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Support |
63.7
|
63.9
|
63.4
|
| Oppose |
34.7
|
33.9
|
36.1
|
| No anaswer |
1.6
|
2.2
|
0.5
|
Q.3-1 Do you strongly support, somewhat support , strongly
oppose or somewhat oppose the current peace process between the Palestinians
and Israel?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Strongly Support* |
19.5
|
20.4
|
18.0
|
| Support* |
44.5
|
44.3
|
45.0
|
| Strongly oppose** |
15.1
|
14.6
|
16.0
|
| Somewhat oppose** |
19.8
|
19.4
|
20.3
|
| No answer |
1.1
|
1.3
|
0.7
|
* For those who answered "Support" in question 3
** For those who answered "Oppose" in question
3
Q.4 In general, how do you evaluate the Palestinian Legislative
Council's performance? Do you say it is very good performance, good, bad,
or very bad?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very good |
5.3
|
4.7
|
6.4
|
| Good |
44.3
|
47.6
|
38.6
|
| Bad |
33.2
|
28.0
|
42.0
|
| Very bad |
10.8
|
11.2
|
10.3
|
| No answer |
6.4
|
8.5
|
2.7
|
Q.5 In general, how do you evaluate the Palestinians Authority's
performance? Do you say it is very good,good, bad, or very bad?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Very good |
7.2
|
8.2
|
5.7
|
| Good |
54.8
|
54.3
|
55.7
|
| Bad |
24.3
|
24.0
|
24.7
|
| Very bad |
10.7
|
10.1
|
11.6
|
| No answer |
3.0
|
3.4
|
2.3
|
Q.6 Some participated in the PLC elections while others boycotted
them, now three years after those elections, do you think the boycott decision
was correct or wrong?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Correct |
32.0
|
31.9
|
32.2
|
| Wrong |
57.2
|
55.5
|
60.3
|
| No answer |
10.8
|
12.6
|
7.5
|
Q.7 Which of the following problems do you believe
is the most important facing the Palestinian people?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Jerusalem |
46.2
|
45.2
|
47.9
|
| Refugees |
14.8
|
14.5
|
15.5
|
| Settlements |
30.8
|
31.4
|
29.7
|
| Other |
2.1
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
| No answer |
6.1
|
6.8
|
4.8
|
Q.8 Which Palestinian figure do you trust most?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Yasser Arafat |
38.8
|
35.7
|
44.1
|
| Ahmad Yaseen |
9.5
|
6.7
|
14.4
|
| Haidar Abdul Shafi |
6.1
|
4.9
|
8.2
|
| Others |
12.0
|
13.8
|
9.1
|
| Don't trust anyone |
26.8
|
30.4
|
20.5
|
| No answer |
6.8
|
8.5
|
3.7
|
Q.9 Which political or religious faction do you trust most?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Fateh |
37.6
|
35.0
|
42.2
|
| Hamas |
14.7
|
12.6
|
18.3
|
| Popular Front |
2.0
|
2.5
|
1.1
|
| Islamic Jihad |
2.6
|
2.7
|
2.3
|
| Others |
2.8
|
3.0
|
2.3
|
| Do not trust anyone |
31.0
|
33.0
|
27.6
|
| No answer |
9.3
|
11.2
|
6.2
|
Q.10 Do you trust or distrust the judicial and courts system
in Palestine? Would you say fully trust it, have some trust or distrust?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Fully trust it |
21.7
|
26.2
|
13.9
|
| Have some trust |
35.0
|
33.2
|
38.2
|
| Distrust it |
36.8
|
32.3
|
44.5
|
| No opinion |
4.7
|
5.9
|
2.5
|
| No answer |
1.8
|
2.4
|
0.9
|
Q.11 In the ase of the establishment of a Palestinian state,
do you think the state should be run according to Islamic law or according
to secular non-religious laws?
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
| Islamic Law |
79.8
|
77.5
|
83.8
|
| Secular non-religious Laws |
15.8
|
18.7
|
10.7
|
| No answer |
4.4
|
3.8
|
5.5
|
Q.12 Now, I will ask you about some Palestinian fugures,
please tell me if you trust, distrust, or have no information about them?
Total
|
Trust
|
In Between
|
I distrust
|
I have no information
|
No answer
|
| Yasser Arafat |
62.9
|
16.7
|
16.2
|
2.9
|
1.3
|
| Ahmad Yaseen |
54.6
|
24.0
|
14.1
|
5.7
|
1.6
|
| Haidar Abdul Shafi |
47.0
|
20.3
|
14.2
|
16.7
|
1.8
|
| Faisal al-Husseini |
35.9
|
27.6
|
20.9
|
13.4
|
2.2
|
| Sa'eb Erekat |
33.1
|
25.7
|
21.9
|
17.7
|
1.6
|
| Hanan Ashrawi |
32.7
|
28.1
|
25.0
|
11.5
|
1.9
|
| Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) |
25.8
|
24.2
|
24.9
|
23.2
|
1.9
|
| Jibreel Rajoub |
16.9
|
16.2
|
36.0
|
28.1
|
2.8
|
| Muhammad Dahlan |
13.3
|
18.7
|
31.5
|
33.9
|
2.6
|
| Geroge Habash |
13.2
|
16.7
|
37.6
|
29.2
|
3.3
|
West Bank
|
Trust
|
In Between
|
I distrust
|
I have no information
|
No answer
|
| Yasser Arafat |
59.1
|
18.1
|
17.6
|
3.5
|
1.7
|
| Ahmad Yaseen |
50.2
|
23.5
|
16.3
|
7.9
|
2.1
|
| Haidar Abdul Shafi |
44.5
|
19.4
|
13.9
|
20.2
|
2.0
|
| Faisal al-Husseini |
38.3
|
25.9
|
21.4
|
12.0
|
2.4
|
| Hanan Ashrawi |
34.2
|
27.2
|
25.4
|
10.6
|
2.6
|
| Sa'eb Erekat |
33.0
|
25.9
|
21.6
|
17.5
|
2.0
|
| Mahmoud Abbas |
26.2
|
23.3
|
23.0
|
25.0
|
2.5
|
| Jibreel Rjoub |
20.9
|
16.2
|
39.4
|
20.5
|
3.0
|
| Gerorge Habash |
17.2
|
18.0
|
35.6
|
25.5
|
3.7
|
| Muhammad Dahlan |
12.5
|
15.5
|
26.0
|
42.7
|
3.3
|
Gaza Strip
|
Trust
|
In Between
|
I distrust
|
I have no information
|
No answer
|
| Yasser Arafat |
69.6
|
14.2
|
13.7
|
1.8
|
0.7
|
| Ahmad Yaseen |
62.3
|
24.9
|
10.3
|
1.8
|
0.7
|
| Haidar Abdul Shafi |
51.4
|
21.9
|
14.6
|
10.5
|
1.6
|
| Sa'eb Erekat |
33.6
|
25.4
|
22.1
|
18.0
|
0.9
|
| Faisal Huseini |
31.5
|
30.6
|
20.1
|
16.0
|
1.8
|
| Hanan Ashrawi |
30.1
|
29.7
|
26.5
|
13.0
|
0.7
|
| Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) |
24.9
|
25.8
|
28.3
|
20.1
|
0.9
|
| Muhammad Dahlan |
14.8
|
24.2
|
41.1
|
18.5
|
1.4
|
| Jibreel Rjoub |
10.0
|
16.1
|
30.1
|
41.3
|
2.5
|
| Geroge Habash |
6.4
|
14.4
|
41.1
|
35.6
|
2.5
|
Go to Part Two
