A new palestinian poll was released today. It was conducted by the Development Studies Programme at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank. Some selected statistics (quoting from the summary of results):- If elections were to take place today, the majority (55%) would vote for Mr. Yasser Arafat; 31% would not vote for him. Over 60% of Palestinians planning to participate will give their vote for Mr. Arafat. In contrast, 26% of those intending to vote said that they would not for him.
- 42% support a “democratic – pluralistic” political system; an equal percentage (42%) supports an Islamic one.
- The most important characteristic of any president for Palestine is his/her ability to “confront Israel” (74% said that was very important); the second most important characteristic is “commitment to Islamic values” (70%).
- 81% of Palestinians do not know the names of the new ministers in the newly formed - cabinet.
- 91% feel that the United States is not serious about reform in Palestine; instead it is furthering its own political agenda.
- 62% said that they are boycotting Israeli products, while 63% said that they are boycotting American products.
55% support political negotiations with Israel (a decline in support from 63% in May 2002 and 70% in February 2002).
This series of polls hasn't asked about support for suicide bombing against Israelis. But here's an interesting result from an earlier DSP poll published October 11, 2001:- If it is proven that the party responsible for the attacks in New York and Washington is of Arab-Islamic descent, should these groups be seen as representing Arabs and Muslims as a whole? 49.5% responded "Yes," 41.8 responded "No," and 8.7 responded "Don't know-Not sure."
Almost 50% of the palestinians polled last September thought that the 9/11 hijackers should be seen as representing Arabs and Muslims as a whole -- assuming, of course, that it's "proven" that the hijackers were of Arab-Islamic descent. People who say that in this country are accused of racism, intolerance, profiling and willful ignorance of Islam. What am I missing?
