65% of the Palestinian public are in favor of Mahmoud Abbas resigning as President of the Palestinian Authority with only 35% saying that they’re satisfied with his performance.

By i24news

Two thirds of the Palestinian public want Abbas to resign and another two thirds support an armed intifada and the current wave of stabbing attacks across Israel and the West bank, a new survey has revealed.

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Mahmud Shalaldeh, 18, who was shot by Israeli troops during clashes the previous day in Hebron, during his funeral on November 13, 2015 – Photos : HAZEM BADER (AFP)

The survey conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in cooperation with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Ramallah, asked Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank a number of questions relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, their level of confidence in their leaders, the future of the Oslo accords and their opinion on the Islamic State.

67 percent of respondents in the poll said that they support the use of knives in confrontations with Israelis, however, 73 percent oppose the participation of young school aged girls in attacks. 50 percent of the public said that if the current conflict were to evolve into “wide scale peaceful popular confrontations such a development would serve Palestinian national interests in ways that negotiations could not.”

Asked why more Palestinians were not carrying out attacks, 43 percent said that it could be from a fear of reprisal from the Palestinian Authority or Israelis. 19 percent said that more were not participating because they feel that attacks will be in vain, six percent said that they needed to provide for their families instead, five percent said it was based on a lack of leadership in carrying out attacks and four percent said that it was because there are too few “friction points” with Israeli forces.

Israeli secuirty forces stand guard next to the covered body of a Palestinian attacker who was shot dead after he tried to stab an Israeli woman at a bus station near the Gush Etzion settlement in the West Bank, on November 22, 2015 – Menahem Kahana (AFP)

Palestinians said that of the various political parties, they believe Hamas provides the most support for attacks (73 percent) with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) coming in second (66 percent) and Fatah in third (59 percent).

Meanwhile 65 percent of the Palestinian public are in favor of Mahmoud Abbas resigning as President of the Palestinian Authority with only 35 percent saying that they are satisfied with his performance. If new elections were to be held including all Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah split the lead with 33 percent each. 11 percent would vote for any of the remaining parties and 23 percent remain undecided.

According to the poll, an overwhelming majority of Palestinians, nine out of ten, believe that Israel does not abide by the Oslo agreement and 68 percent support abandoning it. However, 67 percent of those who said that they do not believe Israel follows the agreement think that Abbas is not serious about withdrawing from Palestinian Oslo obligations. 46 percent support the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority, said the survey.

“In the absence of a peace negotiation” 60 percent of people polled said that they supported returning to an armed intifada, but there was some overlap as 60 percent also said that they support non-violent resistance. 65 percent of persons polled said that they no longer see a two state solution as practical and only 29 percent support a single state with Jews and Arabs enjoying equal rights.

Palestinian holding a knife in Hebron. – Photo: REUTERS

82 percent believe that Israel wants to annex and expel Palestinians from land gained in 1967 while 50 percent say that they think Israel intends to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in order to build a third Temple.

When asked about the Islamic State, 88 percent of Palestinians said that the extremist group does not represent true Islam. However ten percent of Palestinians in Gaza and five percent in the West Bank said that it does.

80 percent said that they oppose the November 13 attacks in which members of the Islamic State killed 130 people and 41 percent said they think that the attack will have a negative impact on the Palestinian cause.

View original i24news publication at:
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/95654-151214-support-for-intifada-gains-while-favor-for-abbas-wanes-poll