(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few Palestinians think they will see the establishment of their own state, according to a poll by An-Najah National University. 55.4 per cent of respondents doubt that current negotiations carried by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories, while 36.3 per cent do think this is possible.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Few Palestinians think they will see the establishment of their own state, according to a poll by An-Najah National University. 55.4 per cent of respondents doubt that current negotiations carried by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories, while 36.3 per cent do think this is possible.
In addition, 59.2 per cent of respondents think that the Palestinian resistance in its present form will not accomplish the creation of a Palestinian state.
Fatah leader Abbas won the January 2005 presidential ballot in the Palestinian Territories with 62.32 per cent of all cast ballots. In January 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council election, securing 74 of the 112 seats at stake. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh officially took over as prime minister in March. The Israeli government believes Hamas is directly responsible for the deaths of 377 citizens in a variety of attacks, which include dozens of suicide bombings.
In February 2007, Hamas and Fatah leaders reached an accord which set the guidelines for a power-sharing Palestinian administration, headed by Hamas. In June, amid a wave of violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah factions, Hamas militants seized control of Gaza. Abbas issued a decree to form a 12-member emergency government based in the West Bank and expelled Hamas from the administration. Fatah member Salam Fayyad was appointed as prime minister by Abbas.
In November 2007, Abbas and leaders from the United States, Israel and several Arab countries attended an international conference on Middle East affairs in Annapolis, Maryland. The meeting was brokered by U.S. president George W. Bush. While Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert had pledged to work towards having a peace treaty signed by the end of 2008, the White House has acknowledged that the goal will not be reached.
On Nov. 24, the Palestinian Authority’s council voted to symbolically appoint Abbas as the president of the Palestinian State. Abbas recently declared: "If the dialogue with Hamas fails, early next year I will call for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections."
Hamas rejected Abbas’s appointment as president of the non-existent Palestinian state, calling it "unconstitutional".
Polling Data
Do you think that the negotiations that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is conducting will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories?
|
Yes |
36.3% |
|
No |
55.4% |
|
Not sure |
8.4% |
Do you think that the Palestinian resistance in its present form will lead to the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 occupied territories?
|
Yes |
32.1% |
|
No |
59.2% |
|
Not sure |
8.7% |
Source: An-Najah National University
Methodology: Interviews with 1,360 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, conducted from Nov. 20 to Nov. 22, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
