SHAREPalestinians look upon the Palestinian Authority (PA)/Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the most trusted party in its commitment to the peace process, according to a new poll released by the Arab World for Research & Development (AWRAD).
Of more than 1,000 Palestinians surveyed in both the West Bank and Gaza, two-thirds said that the the PA/PLO is serious about its commitment to establishing a Palestinian state. Furthermore, 64% of respondents said that they do not believe that Hamas is committed to establishing a state.
In addition, 52% of those surveyed stated that they support the idea that Hamas should concede its authority in Gaza to the PA. In contrast, just 17% would like to see a concession of authority by the PA to Hamas.
Other evidence of positive attitudes towards the PA from this survey is that 64% of respondents evaluated the performance of the Fayyad government positively (god or medium), while 46% have this attitude towards Haniyeh’s Hamas government.
Future elections
According to the AWRAD survey, were elections to take place today, and only Fatah and Hamas were to run, the former would receive 68% of the vote, while the latter would get 32%. In an open election including all potential lists, Fatah would receive 55%, Hamas 27% and the rest of the lists 18% of the votes.
Regarding the potential resignation of Abbas as the president of the Palestinian authority, 51% said they opposed the presidency of Aziz Duwaik of Hamas, the current head of the Palestinian Legislative Council who has announced that he is ready to step in as president if Abbas were to step down. The survey saw Duwaik receive 29% support.
Resolving the conflict
Approximately 54% of those surveyed backed negotiations as the best method to achieve an agreement with the Israelis. However, respondents differed on their opinion of what would be the most effective form of negotiation, with one-third believing that they should continue as they are, and 59% stating that negations under new and more balanced terms such as an international conference will be effective.
Many of those surveyed were opposed to negotiations altogether, with about 46% expressing support for resorting to armed attacks for an effective outcome. Many respondents were sceptical about the credibility of the Israeli government, with three-quarters of respondents stating that they believe that the Israeli government is not serious about implementing the recently declared 10-month freeze on settlement building. Furthermore, 81% believe that Israel is not making any serious efforts to stop settlement building.
The credibility of the American government as a mediator is also questioned, with 83% of respondents stating that they have no faith that the American government will ever assist the Palestinians in building their state.
Overall, with regard to the best way to achieve a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, 23% believe that this would be negotiations under new terms, 20% back a mix of negotiations and popular uprising, 18% support a mix of negotiations and armed attacks, 17% support solely armed attacks, 14% want the negotiations to continue without conditions and 8% back a popular uprising.
