An-Najah National University
Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies
Tel: (972) (9) 2345113 Fax: (972)(9) 2345982
Nablus – Palestinian: P.O.Box 7, 707
Email: [email protected] [email protected]

Results of Palestinian Public Opinion Poll
No. 31
15-17 November 2007

Background

The Palestinian leadership finally resolved to participate in the Annapolis conference despite the fact that more than one Palestinian official declared that the conference is destined to fail. President Abu Mazen confirmed that he will not accept any political offer that late President Arafat rejected.
Hamas movement and the dissolved (by President Abbas) government launched a severe attack against the participants in the Annapolis Conference considering the Conference an attempt to compromise the Palestinian fixed and nonnegotiable rights. Hamas and the Palestinian factions in Damascus failed to hold a conference to counter Annapolis. The counter conference was supposed to take place in Damascus but was postponed sine die.
The aggressions, as testified by recognized jurists, committed by the Executive Force in Gaza against the citizens who went out to commemorate the third anniversary of the departure of Abu Ammar stirred a wave of Palestinian official and popular responses. What is important is the rift made between the two Palestinian conflicting factions at a time when unity is a much needed demand especially as the date of the Annapolis Conference is approaching.
The Results
Following are the results of the Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 31 conducted by the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies at An-Najah National University during the period from 15-17 November, 2007. The University sponsors all polls conducted by its Center.
Palestinian public opinion poll no. 31 undertakes the current political realities especially the incidents that took place in the Gaza Strip, the domination of Hamas over the Strip, the accompanying development on the Palestinian arena, the Annapolis Conference in addition to political affiliations.

The sample included 1360 persons whose age group is 18 and above and who have the right to vote. The enclosed questionnaire was distributed on 860 persons from the West Bank and 500 persons from the Gaza Strip. The sample was drawn randomly and the margin of error is about ±3%; still 4.2% of the members of the sample refused to answer the questionnaire.

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The opinions represented in the results reflect those of the study; they do not, by any means, represent the opinion of An-Najah National University.

The General Results:

• 57.1% of respondents rejected the claim that the Palestinian Authority worked to end the role of the PLO and that the PA currently uses the PLO to counter Hamas; 27.4% supported these feelings.
• 33.3% of respondents supported Hamas' refusal to join the PLO as long as the Organization does not adopt Hamas' program, 53.7% rejected.
• 50.4% of respondents believed that it is necessary to add Hamas to the institutions of the PLO.
• 32.9% of respondents believed that Hamas is serious in its intentions to join the PLO.
• 68.4% of respondents considered the PLO the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
• 69.8% of respondents rejected declarations made by some officials of Hamas that the PLO institutions are illegitimate and do not represent the Palestinian people; 24.7% supported that.
• 45.4% of respondents considered Salam Fayyad's government the legitimate Palestinian government; 19.3% considered Ismael Haniyeh's government the legitimate one.
• Regardless of legitimacy or illegitimacy, 51.7% supported the general policy of the government of Salam Fayyad.
• Regardless of legitimacy or illegitimacy, 22.6% supported the general policy of the dissolved government of Ismael Haniyeh.
• 43% of respondents considered Hamas bloc as the side which is impairing the work of the PLC; 24.5% considered Fateh bloc as the side.
• 55% of respondents called upon President Mahmoud Abbas to issue a decree by which he dissolves the PLC since it has been inactive for a long period of time.
• 46.2% of respondents saw that the PLC members put the interest of their political party first and that of their country second.
• 81.3% of respondents said that they will participate in the coming legislative elections. From among those who said they will participate, 50% said that they will give their votes to Fateh's candidates; 14.6% said they will give their votes to Hamas' candidates.
• If PLC elections are to be conducted, 53.8% of respondents expected the winning of Fateh movement; 14.4% expected the winning of Hamas.
• 36.7% of respondents believed that Hamas cannot control the West Bank because of the Israeli Occupation; 23.3% believed that it is because Fateh is strong in the West Bank; 19.6% believed that it is because Hamas is week in the West Bank.
• 72.6% of respondents rejected declarations made by a Hamas leader which were understood as revealing an intention of Hamas to dominate the West Bank as it did in the Gaza Strip.
• 18.9% of respondents supported forming an executive force in the West Bank; 72.8% opposed that.
• 34.1% of respondents supported the arrest of some of the Hamas affiliated individuals by the Palestinian security apparatuses.
• 13.6% of respondents supported the arrest of some of the Fateh affiliated individuals by the Executive Force in the Gaza Strip.
• 33.6% of respondents said that they believe the reports about the torture that the Palestinian security forces inflect on the arrested members of Hamas in the West Bank.
• 56.8% of respondents said that they believe the reports about the torture that the Executive Force inflect on the arrested members of Fateh in the Gaza Strip.
• 14.6% of respondents believed that freedom of expression in the Gaza Strip improved after the incidents of Gaza; 63.3% believed that it retreated.
• 21% of respondents believed that freedom of expression in the West Bank improved after the incidents of Gaza; 34.7% believed that it retreated.
• 16.3%of respondents believed that the meeting that took place between Mahmoud Abbas and a number of Hamas leaders in the West Bank was a result of personal initiatives by Hamas leaders, 18.8% saw that it was an indicator of a split within Hamas, and 21.8% saw that the vision of the leaders of Hamas in the West Bank is different from that of the leaders of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
• 17% of respondents believed that the security conditions in the Gaza Strip after the domination of Hamas are improving; 64.9% said they are deteriorating.
• 41% of respondents believed that the security conditions were better before Hamas took hold of the Strip; 28.6% believed the contrary.
• 59.9% of respondents considered what Hamas did as a coup against Palestinian legitimacy.
• 68.3% of respondents believed that Hamas is endeavoring to create an entity of its own in the Gaza Strip in isolation from the West Bank; 25.7% believed the contrary.
• 21.9% of respondents believed that Hamas is capable of managing the life affairs of the citizens of the Gaza Strip.
• 30.6% of respondents said that when they listen to the news, they believe Fateh media, 13.2% said they believe the Hamas media, and 45.1% said they believe neither of them.
• In the point of view of respondents, the priorities of the present government led by Salam Fayyad should be as follows:
- Restoring control over the Gaza Strip 59.4%
- Restraining security chaos in the West Bank 70.1%
- Restoring dialogue between Fateh and Hamas 50.7%
- Improving the economic conditions 68.9%
- Paying the salaries of employees 74.3%
- Rebuilding Palestinian institutions 66.3%

• The personal priorities of respondents at the present time were as follows:
- Restoring control over the Gaza Strip 67.1%
- Restraining security chaos in the West Bank 81.5%
- Restoring dialogue between Fateh and Hamas 70.9%
- Improving the economic conditions 85.9%
- Securing funds for the salaries of employees 86.2%
• 30.8% of respondents believed that the peace conference (Annapolis Conference) that the US called for holding in the coming fall will succeed; 54.9% believed it will fail.
• 61.3% of respondents supported the participation of the Palestinian Authority in the fall conference (Annapolis Conference); 29.2% rejected that.
• 68.2% of respondents supported the notion that Palestinian arms must only be in the hands of the Palestinian security apparatuses.
• 61.6% of respondents believed that the security campaign that the Palestinian Government began in Nablus to restore order and the rule of law will succeed; 24.6% believed that it will fail.
• 70.8% of respondents supported the universities' administrations in suspending students' extracurricular activities inside campuses to maintain a smooth running of the educational process and to avoid involving universities in political struggles.
• 38.5% of respondents believed that Al-Qassam Brigades will resume firing rockets from the Gaza Strip against Israel after the domination of Hamas on the Strip.
• 57.6% of respondents expressed fear for their lives under the present circumstances.
• 62.7% of respondents said that they are pessimistic of the general Palestinian situation at this stage.
• 78.7% of respondents said that they neither feel safe for themselves nor for their families and properties under the current circumstances.
• As for political affiliation respondents gave the following results:

People’s Party 1.1%
Democratic Front 1.1%
Islamic Jihad 3.2%
Fateh 44.3%
Hamas 13.2%
Fida 0.4%
Popular Front 3.7%
Palestinian National Initiative 0.8%
I am an independent nationalist 5.7%
I am an independent Islamist 3.8%
None of the above 22.0%
Others 0.7%


The General Results of the Poll ..... details