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Key findings of the poll were:
A plurality (42.8%) believes that the media provide more
attention to extremist voices.
Around one-third (33.7%) believe a permanent peace agreement with
the Israeli can be achieved in the near future
(within 4 years or less).
A substantial majority (50.5%) supports to various degrees the
Palestinian Independence Chart.
The Objective of the Poll:
The target of this poll is to examine the directions and
inclinations of the Palestinian people towards the peace process
with Israel and how far the ordinary citizen can impact this
peace process. This poll, furthermore, casts light on the
significant role of the media in the Palestinian – Israeli
conflict and probes the public support for the Palestinian
Independence Chart and the Arab Peace Initiative based on the
solution of two states for two nations.
We hope that the gathered information would be of great benefit
to all parties concerned.
Introduction:
In the most recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for
Public Opinion (PCPO) in cooperation with " Souhtouna –
Palestine, the One Voice Initiative" during the period from March
22nd to 26th, 2006 under the supervision of Dr. Nabil Kukali, a
random sample of (677) Palestinian adults, 18 years and older,
representing the various demographic specimens of the people
living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza
Strip, has been interviewed.
Dr. Fathi Darwish, Director of Souhtouna Palestine – One Voice
Initiative, said the most significant result this poll has
revealed is that half of the Palestinian people is supporting the
Palestinian Independence Chart and the Arab Peace Initiative
based on the solution of two states for two nations. "This
emphasizes the desire of our Palestinian people to achieve a just
and comprehensive peace backed by the principle of two states for
two nations and the UN resolutions", Dr. Darwish added at his
Ramallah office.
Dr. Kukali, Director of PCPO, from his side, said that about 43%
of the Palestinian people believe that the media provide more
attention to extremist voices rather than to moderate voices.
The Findings:
Responding to the question:" Do you believe or not believe that
your personal actions can contribute towards reaching a permanent
peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians ?", (15.4%)
answered "I am certain that I cannot impact the peace process ",
(33.2 %) said "perhaps yes, perhaps no", (17.9%) answered " I
think I can impact the process", (3.7%) said " I am certain that
I can impact the peace process", and (0.7 %) answered " I don't
know or think differently".
Responding also to the question:" There are those who say this
conflict is mainly a conflict of Israelis vs. Palestinians, and
there are those who say that the real conflict is between the
moderate majority that wants peace on both sides vis a vis
violent extremist groups that do not want peace. With which group
do you agree more?" (69.2%) are with the perspective that the
conflict is primarily between Israelis and Palestinians, whilst
only (27.6%) are with the perspective that the conflict is
primarily between moderates and violent extremists on both sides,
and (3.2%) answered: "I don't know".
(33.7%) of the Palestinian people think that a permanent peace
agreement with the Israelis can be achieved in the near future
(within 4 years or less), whilst (65.4%) think that it's not
possible, and (0.9%) declined the answer.
Around one-third (34.8%) of the respondents believe that the
media provide an accurate report of the reality on the ground,
whilst (42.8%) believe they provide more attention to extremist
voices, (17.2%) said they provide more attention to moderate
voices and (5.2%) declined the response to this question.
A substantial majority (51.5%) of the Palestinians support to
various degrees the Palestinian Independence Chart and the Arab
Peace Initiative based on the solution of two states for two
nations, whilst (23.8%) oppose that to various degrees, and
(25.6%) hesitated to answer the question and (0.1%) refused to
determine their position.
Regarding the question:" Which reasons contributed to the victory
of Hamas in the legislative elections held on January 25th, 2006
?", the answers were as follows: (9.3%) for the attitude of Hamas
of not recognizing Israel, (34.9%) said because Hamas is an
Islamic political party, (30.6 %) due to the corruption of Fateh,
(16.0 %) due to the mismanagement of the Palestinian Authority
and (9.2 %) due to not achieving any progress in the peace
process.
With respect to the question: " Have you heard about "Souhtouna"
– Palestine, the One Voice Initiative, a public association
working for the recruitment of moderates from both nations in
order to reach a settlement for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
without violence?", (31.6%) said: " I am aware of One Voice –
Souhtouna, Palestine, (67.1 %) said: " I am not aware thereof ",
and (1.3 %) answered: " I don't know ".
Methodology of the Survey Study:
"All interviews took place on the basis of random choices of
respondents' homes, i.e. face-to-face during different working
hours, at least 5 hours a day, including the evening time, in
order to ensure proper representation of those sub-groups of the
population, which would otherwise be difficult to reach and
selecting one individual in each household using Last Birthday
Method. ", Mr. Elias Kukali, a staff member of the Research &
Studies Section at the PCPO, said. The choices were taken from a
total of (156) election sites, from which (117) sites are located
in West Bank and (39) sites in Gaza Strip according to the
distribution of the Central Election committee. These election
sites were randomly chosen by using the method of the simple
random sample. These in turn were the beginning of the random
sample choice made from those regions in accordance with PCPO's
long experienced methodology. The margin of error was (±3.76%) at
a significance and confidence levels of (5%) and (95%)
respectively.
Elias Kukali added "the percentage of female respondents was
(49.3%) whereas that of the male respondents reached (50.7%). He
said the composition of the sample according to the residential
area was as follows: (62.0%) West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
and (38.0%) Gaza Strip. He further pointed out that the
allocation of the sample in respect of the type of residence was
as follows: (48.9%) city, (32.9%) village and (18.2%) refugee
camp and that the average age of the respondents was (34.6)
years.
Contact Persons
Dr. Nabil Kukali Dr. Fathi Darwish
Tel: 02 2774846 Tel: 02 2951379
Fax: 02 2774892 Fax: 02 2951382
Mobile: 0547 216643 /
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