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Palestinians Reject Land Exchange as Part of Deal
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(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with some land exchange as part of a final solution to the current impasse with Israel, according to a poll by An-Najah National University. 66.7 per cent of respondents reject this notion.
In addition, 77.4 per cent of respondents reject making Jerusalem the capital for both an eventual Palestinian state and Israel.
The former British mandate of Palestine was instituted at the end of World War I, to oversee a territory in the Middle East that formerly belonged to the Ottoman Empire. After the end of World War II and the Nazi holocaust, the Zionist movement succeeded in establishing an internationally recognized homeland. In November 1947, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the formation of a Jewish state.
In 1948, the British government withdrew from the mandate and the state of Israel was created in roughly 15,000 square kilometres of the mandate’s land, with the remaining areas split under the control of Egypt and Transjordan. Since then, the region has seen constant disagreement between Israel and the Palestinians, represented for decades by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Wars broke out in the region in the second half of the 20th Century, involving Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
Around 750,000 Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their territory during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The "right of return"—under which Palestinians aim to re-occupy their homes in Israel—has always been a questionable point in peace negotiations. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war and their descendants still live in shantytown camps run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), next to Gaza cities and towns.
During the six-day war in 1967, Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. About 300,000 Israelis currently live in more than 100 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, along with about 2.5 million Palestinians.
Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is currently heading the Palestinian Authority from the West Bank, endorsed by Israel and most of the Western international community. Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas has become the de-facto leader in the Gaza Strip.
The administration headed by U.S. president Barack Obama has urged the Israeli government to cease all settlement activity in order to break a deadlock in peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Earlier this year, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed for the construction of some 900 new settlements in occupied territory, citing the need to understand the "natural growth" of the Israeli population living in the area.
Last month, during the Arab League summit in Libya, Abbas discussed the current state of affairs, saying, "We cannot resume indirect negotiations as long as Israel maintains its settlement policy and the status quo. (...) There won’t be any agreement that does not guarantee an end to the occupation, starting with Jerusalem, because there is no sense in having a Palestinian state that does not have Jerusalem as its capital."
Polling Data
Do you accept the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with some land exchange as a final solution for the Palestinian problem?
|
Yes |
28.3% |
|
No |
66.7% |
|
No opinion / Not sure |
5.0% |
Do you support or reject making Jerusalem a capital for two states: Palestine and Israel?
|
I support |
20.8% |
|
I reject |
77.4% |
|
No opinion / Not sure |
1.8% |
Source: An-Najah National University
Methodology: Interviews with 1,861 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, conducted from Apr. 8 to Apr. 10, 2010. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
