Introduction
-
· The majority of the Palestinian people, 80.2 percent,
support the continuation of the Intifada, while only 13.3 percent oppose
its continuation. This shows an increase in supporting the Intifada since
70.1 percent of Palestinians said in a December 2000 poll they support
it.
-
The majority of the Palestinian people, 62.3 percent, support
the continuation of both forms of the Intifada: popular and armed struggle.
This is also an increase from the last poll conducted in December 2000
when only 54.5 percent supported popular and armed struggle.
-
Decrease in the support of the Oslo agreements continues
wherein 40.4 percent support the agreements when last June 57.6 percent
supported it.
-
.As for popular support for the various Palestinian political
and religious factions, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s mainstream
faction Fateh maintained its position at the top with 35.1 percent with
a slight increase from December 2000 when it was 32.1 percent. Support
for the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas decreased to 17.7 percent from
19.2 percent last December. Yet support for Hamas has increased since the
beginning of the Intifada since support for Hamas was 12 percent in June
2000. The Islamic Jihad and other Islamic factions showed an increase of
support.
-
The percentage decreased for those who do not trust any faction
reaching 23.1 percent as opposed to 28.1 percent last December and 37.3
percent in June 2000.
-
There is a noticeable increase in the trust in Palestinian
President Yassir Arafat, which reached 32.3 percent after it used to be
25.7 percent in December 2000 and 31.8 percent before the Intifada in June
2000.
-
A sweeping Palestinian majority (95.3 percent) considers
the United States biased to Israel in terms of its role as the peace process
sponsor while only 2.5 percent consider the United States neutral.
-
The Palestinian people seem to continue to have some kind
of hope in the peace process since only 29.7 percent said the peace process
is dead and could not resume while 43.7 percent said that the peace process
is experiencing difficult circumstances with an unknown future. Of those
surveyed, 19.1 percent said that the peace process is alive.
Methodology
A random sample of 1200 people over the age of 18 were
interviewed face-to-face throughout the West Bank (5,6,7 April
2001) and Gaza Strip on (10,11,12 April 2001). 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, 760 people were surveyed
from the following areas: Jenin: Jenin, Kufr Ra’ee, al-Zababdeh,
Yabad, Aqaba , Silat al-harithia , Jenin Refugee Camp (RC) , Fahmeh, T’nak
. Nablus: Nablus, ‘Askar RC, Haris, Bidia, Hiwara, Burqa,
Deir al-Hatab, a-Naqoura, Ain Abous and Bidia . . Tulkarem & Qalqilya
: Tulkarem, Bala’, Qalqilia , Nur Shams RC , Zeita , Azzoun . Hebron:
Hebron, Dura, Idna, Sureef, Halhoul, Yatta , S’eer and Aroub RC . Bethlehem:
Beit ta’mar, Beit Jala , Za’tra, al-khader, Beit Sahor and ‘ayda RC. Jericho:
Jericho and Ain al – Sultan . Ramallah & al-Bireh : al-Bireh,
Ramallah, Birzeit, Ni’leen, al-Mizra , al-‘Amari , Kharbatha Bani
Harith and Sinijil . Jerusalem : al-‘Izarria ,
Old City, Shu’fat, Beit Hanina, Wadi al-Joz, Beit Hanina a-Thata
, Anata , Hizma , Ras al-Amoud , Beir Nabala , Abu Dees , Qalandia RC .
In the Gaza Strip, 440 people were surveyed from:
Gaza
North: Jabalia refugee camp, Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun. Gaza:
Sheikh Radwan, a-Darji, a-Tufah, Sabra, , a-Zeitoon, a-Nasser, a-Shujaeih,
a-Rimal north and south and Shati refugee camp. Deir al- Balah: al-Nusseirat
refugee camp, al-Maghazi refugee camp, Deir al- Balah and al-Bureij RC
. Khan Younis: ‘Abassan al-Kabira, Khan Younis refugee camp, Khan
Younis, Bani Suheila and al-Khuza’ . Rafah: Rafah, Rafah refugee
camp and Tal al-Sultan RC . The margin of error is 3 percent, with a confidence
level of 95.
53.4% of the respondents were from West Bank,
10.0 % from Jerusalem, 36.6% from the Gaza Strip.
31.7% said they live in villages, 17.5% in refugee camps,
50.8% in towns/cities.
51.9% were male, 48.1% were female.
66.8% were married, 25.0%, single, 4.4% widowed, 1.9%
divorced, 1.9% no answer.
The average age of the respondents was 35 years.
Occupation respondents
Students 12.3% laborers 10.1%
Farmers/fishermen 2.5%
Craftsmen 2.9% Businessmen/private business 6.9%
Employees e.g. secretaries/municipal employees/teachers/nurses
20.4
Professionals - e.g. doctors/lawyers/ pharmacists/engineers
1.6
Housewives 33.01% , unemployed 7.5% and retired 1.5%
, no answer 1.4%
Results
Q. 1 In general how optimistic or pessimistic do
you feel towards the future?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
N=1200
|
N=760
|
N=440
|
| Very optimistic |
3.8
|
3.8
|
3.6
|
| Optimistic |
41.8
|
45.5
|
35.7
|
| Pessimistic |
37.0
|
36.3
|
38.2
|
| Very Pessimistic |
16.3
|
13.7
|
20.9
|
| No answer |
1.1
|
0.7
|
1.6
|
Q.2 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Yassir
Arafat is handling his job as President of the Palestinian Authority? Do
you feel that way strongly or only somewhat?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Very satisfied |
20.9
|
22.9
|
17.5
|
| Somewhat satisfied |
36.8
|
36.4
|
37.3
|
| Somewhat dissatisfied |
20.3
|
14.7
|
22.7
|
| Very dissatisfied |
17.7
|
20.8
|
19.5
|
| No answer |
4.3
|
5.2
|
3.0
|
Q.3 Which Palestinian political or religious faction do
you trust most?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1199
|
n=759
|
n=440
|
| Yasser Arafat |
32.3
|
32.1
|
32.5
|
| Ahmed Yassin |
8.0
|
6.1
|
11.4
|
| Haider ‘abd al-shafi |
4.7
|
3.6
|
6.6
|
| Sa’eb ‘Ireiqat |
3.0
|
3.7
|
1.8
|
| Marwan al-barghouti |
2.3
|
2.2
|
2.3
|
| Others |
12.8
|
11.9
|
14.1
|
| No one |
28.3
|
30.5
|
24.3
|
| No answer |
8.6
|
9.9
|
7.0
|
Q.4 And which political party or faction, if any, is currently
best able to help achieve goals?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Fateh |
35.1
|
34.5
|
36.1
|
| Hamas |
17.7
|
14.5
|
23.2
|
| Islamic Jihad |
4.9
|
4.2
|
6.1
|
| Other Islamic faction |
3.2
|
3.4
|
2.7
|
| PFLP |
1.5
|
1.3
|
1.8
|
| PPP |
1.1
|
1.3
|
0.7
|
| Others |
1.9
|
2.8
|
0.4
|
| No one |
23.1
|
24.1
|
21.4
|
| No answer |
11.5
|
13.9
|
7.6
|
Q.5 And what way is your feeling about suicide bombing
operations against Israeli civilians in Israel? Do you strongly support,
somewhat support, somewhat appose, or strongly oppose suicide bombings
against Israeli civilians?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Strongly support |
54.4
|
49.6
|
62.7
|
| Somewhat support |
19.3
|
17.9
|
21.8
|
| Somewhat appose |
10.1
|
10.0
|
10.2
|
| Strongly appose |
5.8
|
7.8
|
2.3
|
| Don’t know |
7.1
|
10.3
|
1.6
|
| No answer |
3.3
|
4.4
|
1.4
|
Q.6 Do you support or oppose the continuation of the current
Palestinian Intifada ?
| |
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Support |
80.2
|
76.3
|
86.8
|
| Appose |
13.3
|
15.8
|
9.1
|
| I don’t know |
5.0
|
5.8
|
3.6
|
| No answer |
1.5
|
2.1
|
0.5
|
Q.7 The current Intifada includes popular characteristics
such as the demonstrations and military characteristics. In your opinion,
do you support the continuation of a popular or military Intifada or both
of them together?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| I support the continuation of a popular resistance
Intifada |
13.5
|
17.0
|
7.5
|
| With the continuation of a military resistance Intifada |
15.8
|
16.8
|
13.9
|
| I am with both a popular and military resistance Intifada |
62.3
|
55.0
|
74.8
|
| I don’t know |
6.9
|
9.5
|
2.5
|
| No answer |
1.5
|
1.7
|
1.3
|
Q.8 What’s your opinion of the Oslo agreement? Would you
say that you strongly support it, support it, oppose it , or strongly oppose
it ?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Strongly support it |
3.8
|
5.0
|
1.6
|
| Support it |
36.6
|
39.7
|
31.1
|
| Oppose it |
33.0
|
29.5
|
39.1
|
| Strongly oppose it |
19.9
|
16.1
|
26.6
|
| No answer |
6.7
|
9.7
|
1.6
|
Q.9 . In general, how do you evaluate the Palestinian
Authority’s performance? Would you say its performance is very good, bad,
or very bad ?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Very good |
5.5
|
6.1
|
4.5
|
| Good |
56.3
|
58.2
|
53.2
|
| Bad |
23.9
|
24.2
|
23.4
|
| Very bad |
11.3
|
8.6
|
15.9
|
| No answer |
3.0
|
2.9
|
3.0
|
Q.10 The United States acts as the sponsor of the peace
process and a mediator in the negotiations. Do you believe that it is conducting
its mediation in a biased manner towards the Palestinians, in a neutral
manner or in a biased manner towards the Israelis?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Biased manner towards the Palestinians |
0.4
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
| Neutral manner |
2.5
|
2.4
|
2.7
|
| Biased manner towards the Israelis |
95.3
|
94.9
|
96.1
|
| Don’t know |
1.2
|
1.8
|
0
|
| No answer |
0.6
|
0.5
|
0.7
|
Q.11. How satisfied are you with Arab solidarity with
the Intifada . Would you say you are very satisfied, somewhat satisfied,
somewhat dissatisfied, or totally dissatisfied?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1200
|
n=760
|
n=440
|
| Satisfied |
39.8
|
37.5
|
43.6
|
| Dissatisfied |
58.4
|
60.0
|
55.7
|
| I don’t know |
1.3
|
1.8
|
0.2
|
| No answer |
0.5
|
0.7
|
0.5
|
Q.12. Under the current conditions, some believe that
the peace process is dead and there is no chance of resuming the negotiations
, while others see that the peace process is passing through difficult
conditions with an unclear future and there is another group that believes
that the peace process is still alive and there is a possibility of resuming
negotiations .
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1199
|
n=759
|
n=440
|
The peace process is dead and there
is no chance of resuming negotiations |
29.7
|
27.0
|
34.3
|
The peace process is Passing through
difficult conditions with an unclear future |
43.8
|
43.6
|
44.1
|
The peace process is Still alive and there
is a possibility of resuming the negotiations |
19.1
|
20.3
|
17.0
|
| Other … please specify |
0.5
|
0.7
|
0.2
|
| I don’t know |
6.3
|
7.8
|
3.6
|
| No answer |
0.6
|
0.6
|
0.8
|
Q.13 Some believe that the two –state formula is the best
solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while others believe that
the historical Palestine cannot be divided into two states and therefore
the best solution would be a bi-national state in all of Palestine where
Palestinians and Israelis enjoy equal rights, which of these two solutions
would you prefer?
|
|
Total
|
West Bank
|
Gaza Strip
|
|
n= 1199
|
n=759
|
n=440
|
| Two states Israeli & Palestinian |
43.8
|
47.8
|
37.0
|
| Bi-national state in all of Palestine |
24.8
|
23.3
|
27.3
|
| No solution |
14.7
|
16.2
|
12.0
|
| Palestinian state |
8.2
|
5.1
|
13.4
|
| Islamic state |
2.8
|
1.4
|
5.2
|
| Other |
0.9
|
0.4
|
1.8
|
| I don’t know |
3.6
|
4.9
|
1.4
|
| No answer |
1.2
|
0.9
|
1.9
|
