Gaza Poll: 61% Suicide Bombings Against Israeli Civilians Are Necessary

2005-09-13

[IMRA: for full details: www.fafo.no/gazapoll/tab_report.pdf

80% did not live close to Israeli settlements. 4% replied that either they or their families had land in an Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip]

Fafo conducted a face-to face survey with 875 respondents in Gaza in the first week of September to monitor Palestinian views on the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Gaza strip. Among the results are:

A vast majority see the Israeli withdrawal as good thing that will improve their lives.

An overwhelming majority (84%) believes the withdrawal is a result of the Palestinian struggle and the costs to Israel in maintaining the occupation. Most are optimistic about the positive effect the withdrawal will have on their lives.

A majority of Gazans (67%) want "military operations from the Gaza Strip against Israel" to stop and a minority (38%) hold that the Intifada more generally should continue. But a similar majority (61%) agree with the statement that "suicide bombings against Israeli civilians are necessary to get Israel to make political concessions" (39% disagreed with that statement).

Respondents were asked about their views on the political future in Gaza, following the withdrawal.

More than half (59%) fear an escalation of the power struggle between or within political factions following the withdrawal, with 44% fearing that there will be an armed conflict between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

A vast majority see an inclusive National Coalition Government (95%) as the solution to the political crisis in Gaza, and many of these (88%) believe that Hamas should be part of such a government.

Gazans are not optimistic about the PA's ability to control the Gaza strip (38% think it can), while 48% believe that control should be handled through cooperation between the PA and other political factions.

These numbers reflect a deeper reality: Palestinians in Gaza do not have a lot of confidence in their key institutions. When asked to rate their views...

Only around 24% express some confidence in the Palestinian legislative council and the Council of ministers

Only half (53%) believe that the land vacated by the Israelis will be distributed fairly

Around 40% express some confidence in Palestinian Private sector and NGOs, while Foreign NGOs and Private sector score lower than that (approx 27%)

On top of the confidence list is UNWRA - the UN agency for Palestine refugees - in which 78% of Gazan's express confidence (many Gazans are refugees and have direct and long experience of UNRWA).

The Palestinian media (65%) also did well, but western media - like BBC and CNN - got a stark vote of non confidence (15%).

The survey results include other indicators of Palestinian opinion on a range of topics, including their views on how the PA will handle the re-distribution of land vacated by settlers, their preferences in political factions, and other indicators of political legitimacy and the likelihood of conflict.

Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis