[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:
Oops.
Less than half of Palestinians (49.4%) oppose suicide bombings in Israel -
and a whopping 40.2% are willing to tell a pollster that they support
suicide bombings in Israel.
Don't tell this to Secretary of State Rice or President Bush.
They are convinced that the Palestinian street opposes terror and wants
Israel to drop security measures designed to stop the terror attacks.]
Poll No. 164
Date: 12.March.2008
The most recent poll prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali revealed that:
(73.0 %) of the Palestinians support at present a Palestinian-Israeli
calm period.
(49.4 %) oppose the suicide bombings inside Israel.
(67.4 %) are in favor of calling on Hamas leadership in Gaza to
retreat from the "military decision".
(70.5 %) oppose the decision made by the Palestinian government in
favor of the "clearance certificate".
(72.5 %) evaluated their economic situation as 'bad'.
Beit Sahour - The Information Bureau:
In the most recent poll prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali, being conducted during
the period February 22nd to March 6th 2008 and published by the Palestinian
Center for Public Opinion (PCPO), a random sample of (1220) Palestinian
adults (over 18 years old) representing the various demographic specimens in
the Palestinian society in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza
Strip, were face to face interviewed. The survey results have shown that
(73.0 %) of the Palestinian people support at present a Palestinian-Israeli
calm period. The most important result, Dr. Nabil Kukali said, was that
(49.4 %) oppose the suicide bombings inside Israel and (67.4 %) support the
call of the released Hamas' activists on their leadership in Gaza to retreat
from the military decision in Gaza Strip. Dr. Kukali added that (64.0 %) are
in favor of halting the closure of Hamas institutions and their licensing by
the Palestinian Authority. Dr. Kukali pointed out that the support shown to
Mr. Marwan El-Barghouthi as a possible president of the Palestinian
Authority has increased in this poll by (1.5 %) compared with a previous
poll published on September 22, 2007 and reached now the rate of (24.3 %),
whilst the support to Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, the acting PA-president, dropped by
(3.0 %) to reach the rate of (23.1 %). In the same manner, the support to
Mr. Ismael Haniyyeh dropped even by (7.3 %) to the rate of (12.4 %).
Regarding the issue of the "clearance certificate" required by the
Palestinian government, Dr. Kukali said that (70.5 %) of the Palestinians
are opposing this decision.
Dr. Nabil Kukali said the results of the poll where as follows:
Call of Hamas' actvists:
(63.3 %) of the Palestinian public supported the call of Hamas' activists,
who are released from the jails of the Palestinian Authority in Nablus
governorate, on their companions to hand over their arms to the official
security bodies as to put an end to their persecution by these officials,
whilst (27.7 %) opposed that and (9.0 %) refused to answer the relevant
question.
Furthermore, (67.4 %) of the Palestinians supported the call of the released
Hamas group on their leadership in Gaza to retreat from the "military
decision" and to reinstate the situation as it was before June 14th of the
last year in order to create the proper ground for the resumption of the
dialogue between the two major Palestinian parties, whilst (23.7 %) opposed
that and (8.9 %) hesitated to answer the question.
In the same context, (64.4 %) of the respondents are in favor of halting the
closure of Hamas institutions and licensing them as mentioned in the call of
the released Hamas activists, while (26.1 %) oppose that and (9.5 %) didn't
respond to the question.
(76.1 %) of the Palestinian public are in favor of the said call in respect
of what has been said about the necessity of effecting a change in Hamas and
the listening to Hamas young people and to their opinions, whilst (14 %)
opposed that and (9.9 %) declined to answer.
A Palestinian - Israeli truce:
Responding to the question: "What's your attitude towards a Palestinian -
Israeli truce at present?" (37.8 %) answered "I strongly support it", (35.2
%) "I somewhat support it", (14.5 %) "I somewhat oppose it", (9.8 %) "I
strongly oppose it" and (2.7 %) answered "I don't know".
The suicide bombings:
(49.1 %) of the Palestinians are of the opinion that the suicide bombings
harm at present the Palestinian national interests, whilst (40.1 %) think
that these are of benefit and (10.8 %) declined to give an answer. Regarding
the suicide bombings inside the Israeli territory, (49.4 %) are in favor of
their halt at present, whilst (40.2%) are for their continuance and (10. %)
hesitated to answer.
The border crossings:
(55.4 %) supported the call of President Mahmoud Abbas on Hamas to stand
back from the issue of the border crossings, whilst (34 %) opposed the call
and (10.6 %) hesitated to respond to the question.
Meeting of the Palestinian National Council:
Responding to the question: "Palestinian efforts are focused on the issue of
convening the Palestinian National Council within the next few months in
Amman, Jordan. Do you think the meeting will succeed or fail to reactivate
and reorganize the Palestinian Liberation Organization?", (9.3 %) answered
"It will surely succeed", (38.6 %) "it will somehow succeed", (33.2 %) "It
will surely fail", (12.5 %) "It will somehow fail" and (6.4 %) answered "I
don't know".
The Clearance Certificate:
Regarding the question: " After the decision of the Palestinian government
requiring of every citizen to submit first an evidence that he/she has paid
all his/her financial liabilities to the Tax Department, to the water and
electricity companies and others, and cleared off any penalties or fines
recorded against him/her before starting or filing an official treatment at
a governmental department or institution, do you support or oppose this
decision ?" (10.2 %) answered "strongly support", (16.4 %) "somewhat
support", ((25.2 %) answered "somewhat oppose", (45.3 %) "strongly oppose"
and (2.9 %) answered "I don't know".
Statement of the Foreign Minister of Egypt:
(50.8 %) of the Palestinian public disagree with the statement of the
Foreign Minister of Egypt, Mr. Ahmed Abu El-Gheth, describing the
confrontation of Hamas to Israel as being " a caricature and ridiculous
confrontation ", whilst (33.7 %) are in favor thereof, and (15.5 %) refused
to respond.
Deployment of multinational forces:
Responding to the question:" Do you support or oppose the deployment of
multinational forces in Gaza Strip ?", (32.9 %) answered " strongly oppose",
(26.3 %) "somewhat oppose", (25.0 %) " somewhat support", (13.4 %) "strongly
support" and (2.3 %) answered " I don't know ".
Performance of the Palestinian Authority:
Responding to the question: "Up to which extent are you satisfied or not
satisfied with the performance of the PA-President, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas?"
(15.0 %) answered "quite satisfied", (41.7 %) "Somewhat satisfied", (23.7 %)
"Somewhat not satisfied", (17.5 %) "Quite unsatisfied" and (2.1 %) answered
"I don't know". (10.9 %) evaluated the performance of the Palestinian PM,
Mr. Salam Fayyad at "very good", (30.2 %) at "good", (24.2 %) at "mediocre",
whilst (15.7 %) evaluated his performance at "bad", (15.7 %) at "very bad"
and (3.2 %) declined to answer the question.
Peace between Palestinians and Israelis:
In respect of the question:" Now thinks of the future when your children are
your Age! Do you think there would be at that time peace between Israelis
and Palestinians?" (2.5 %) answered "definitely", (19.8 %) "Likely", (16.7
%) "Possible", (23.4 %) "Unlikely", (34.2 %) "Definitely not" and (3.3 %)
answered "I don't know".
PA-Presidential elections:
Upon the question:" Do you support a polling at present for the election of
the PA-President?" (29.0 %) answered "I strongly support", (25.5 %) "I
somewhat support", (27.9 %) "I somewhat oppose", (13.4 %) "I strongly
oppose" and (4.5 %) answered "I don't know".
Responding to the question: "Who is your favorite candidate you would vote
for to be the president of the Palestinian Authority in the next
presidential elections?" (24.3 %) "Marwan Al-Barghouthi", (23.1 %) answered
"Mahmoud Abbas", (12.4 %) "Ismael Haniyyeh",(9.5 %) "Mustafa
Al-Barghouthi",(5.2 %) "Mohammed Dahlan", (3.6 %) "Khaled Misha'l",(3.3 %)
"Mahmoud El-Zahhar", (3.2 %) "Salam Fayyad", (3.1 %) "Aziz El-Duwaik", (2.2
%) "Ahmed Qurai", (1.4 %) "Otherwise" and (8.8 %) answered "I don't know".
Elections of the Palestinian Legislative Council:
In regard to the question: "Do you support polling at present for a new
Palestinian Legislative Council?" (29.2 %) answered "I strongly support",
(25.5 %) "I somewhat support", (28.1 %) "I somewhat oppose", (13.1 %) "I
strongly oppose" and (4.1 %) answered "I don't know".
The concern about the naked subsistence:
Responding to the question: "Up to which extent are you worried about the
naked subsistence of your family at present? " (39.3%) answered "worried",
(38.4%) are "too much worried", (17.0%) "Not so much worried ", (3.5%) "Not
worried at all" and (1.8%) answered "I don't know".
The economic conditions:
(72.6%) of the Palestinians evaluated the general economic condition in the
Palestinian territories as "bad" whilst (23.1%) said "it's mediocre", only
(2.8%) described it as "good" and (1.6 %) declined to answer.
Significance of the foreign aid:
Responding to the question: "Up to which extent does the European and US
financial aid contribute generally to the Palestinians' well-being?" (44.3%)
answered "to a high degree", (54.8%) said "to a moderate degree", (7.2%) "To
a slight degree", while (2.3%) said "to a nil degree" and (0.4%) "Don't
know".
The personal security:
Regarding the question: "Up to which extent are you worried about your
personal security ?", (31.0%) answered "too much worried", (37.5%) are
"worried", (23.9%) are "not so much worried", (5.6%) are "not worried at
all" and (2.0%) answered " I don't know " .
The future perspective:
(34.7%) of the respondents answered that they, notwithstanding the
prevailing political and economical conditions of the country, are
"optimistic", whilst (60.1%) said they are " pessimistic " and (5.2%)
declined to answer.
The concerns of the citizen:
Responding to the question: "What is your main concern at present? " (25.0%)
answered "job / money", (35.9%) "The security", (17.5%) "The health" and
(20.3%) "The future" and (1.2%) answered "I don't know".
The content with the life:
Answering the question: "How much are you in general content with your
life?" taking into consideration that the answers were in figures from 1 to
10 where (1) stands for the utmost degree of discontent and (10) for the
utmost degree of content. The outcome was in average (3.98) and the standard
deviation was (2.29).
Methodology of the Survey Study:
Mr. Elias Kukali, a staff member of the Research and Studies' Section at the
PCPO, said that all interviews of this survey were conducted inside the
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. The choices were taken from a total of (156) election
sites, from which (116) sites are located in West Bank and (40) sites in
Gaza Strip according to the distribution of the Central Election Commission.
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.
Mr. E. Kukali has further established that the margin of error was (+/-2.8
%) at a significance and confidence levels of (5%) and (95%) respectively.
He added that the rate of the female respondents in this survey was (49.3%)
against (50.7%) male respondents. The distribution of the random sample
between the Palestinian two major regions was (63.8%) in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem, and (36.2%) in Gaza Strip, and allocated as
follows: (50.3%) for the towns, (32.6%) for the villages and (17.1%) for the
camps
Contact Persons: Dr. Nabil Kukali & Elias Kukali
Tel: 00970 2 277 4846, Fax: 00970 2 277 4892
Mobile: 00970 599 726 878
P.O. Box 15, Beit Sahour - Palestine
Email: kukali@p-ol.com
Website: www.pcpo.ps
| 
