(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in the Palestinian Territories would support a measure to restrict the use of firearms to security apparatuses only, according to a poll by An-Najah National University. 71.3 per cent of respondents would be in favour of such a measure.

Fatah leader Mahmoud 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.

The Palestinian National Charter of 1968 states: "Those who fight or bear arms in the battle of liberation form the nucleus of the popular army which will shield the achievements of the Palestinian Arab people."

On Oct. 4, Israeli journalist and author Amira Hass wrote for the French newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique: "For just a few days in mid-July, Palestinian society had become one big village again. Everyone knew who had done well in their exams and who had failed. In the West Bank the results were celebrated in the usual fashion, with guns fired into the air. Despite public criticism, the Palestinian Authority security forces have not managed to put a stop to this dangerous tradition. Whereas in Gaza, not a single gunshot was heard—the Hamas police do enforce the ban on gunfire at social events."

Polling Data

Do you support or reject the notion that Palestinian arms should be in the hands of Palestinian security apparatuses, and that any other arms in the hands of other Palestinian men will be considered arms for racketeering business?

Source: An-Najah National University
Methodology: Interviews with 1,360 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, conducted from Sept. 18 to Sept. 20, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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