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| Middle East |
| Palestinian poll supports violence |
| 2002-06-07 |
| Parallel to the Israeli survey conducted by Smith Research on public opinion concerning the peace process, Independent Media Review and Analysis also commissioned a survey of public opinion in the West Bank and Gaza strip on May 22-28, 2002 of a representative sample of 1,181 adults. It was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. The fundamental question asked was the following: "Would you support the Saudi peace plan calling for the establishment of full normal relations and full peace between Israel and the Arab states, if the plan does not include the right of return to refugees within the borders of Israel?" The answer was that only 24.1% of those questioned agreed to this proposition, while 62.4% opposed it, with the remaining 12.3% not expressing an opinion. Not only hatred, but blind hatred... The key element of the proposal was to test the extent to which Palestinians were ready to accept a peace which specifically did not include the right of return of refugees. This was decisively turned down by the Palestinian sample, though a certain minority was ready to accept it. It should be noted that in the Israeli Jewish sample, a detailed list of specific conditions which included the right of return for Palestinian refugees was turned down almost unanimously. This demonstrates the enormous differences between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs, especially regarding the rights of Palestinian refugees. Why would anyone want a massive influx of hostile people prone to explosion into their country? That simply wouldn't make any sense... Another question asked of the Palestinian Arab sample was: "If the Palestinian Authority orders Fatah Tanzim and other organizations indirectly linked to the PA's authority to hand over their weapons for confiscation or destruction, what would you believe the Fatah Tanzim and other organizations should do?" In all, 37.8% thought they should do nothing, 50.1% that they should hide their weapons, and only 12.1 % that they should hand in their weapons. That's cultural. In Islamist culture, "you ain't a man without a gun in yore hand." It's understandable: a society that denigrates women leaves no other way to demonstrate one's manhood, does it? A classic case of form versus substance. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |