Development Studies Programme (DSP) - Opinion Polls: Poll No. 30

Development Studies Programme - Birzeit University

Opinion Polls

Public Opinion Poll # 30

Mecca Agreement

National Unity Government

Political Support

Future Expectations and Priorities

27 February 2007

[ Highlights][ Analysis of Results ][ Detailed Results ][ PDF Format ]

[ Sample Distribution ][ In Arabic ]

Section One : Living Conditions
	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
1. *How would you describe the current economic situation of your family?*
1) Very Good	3.3	3.4	3.2
2) Good	16.7	18.1	14.2
3) Fair	35.7	35.7	35.7
4) Bad	27.2	28.8	24.2
5) Very Bad	17.0	14.0	22.7
2. *Are you optimistic or pessimistic?*
1) Optimistic	47.2	43.5	54.1
2) In between	25.0	23.7	27.4
3) Pessimistic	27.0	31.8	18.0
4) I don’t know	0.8	1.0	0.5
3. *Do you believe that Palestinian society is heading in the right direction?*
1) Yes	39.7	33.8	50.8
2) No	54.8	60.7	43.4
3) I don't know	5.6	5.5	5.7
4. *Do you feel secure for yourself, your family and property?*
1) Yes	18.8	15.2	25.8
2) In between	21.7	20.3	24.1
3) No	58.8	63.6	49.8
4) I don’t know	0.7	0.9	0.3
Section Two : Views of the President and Prime Minister
5. *How do you rate the performance of President Mahmoud Abbas?*
1) Good	39.6	35.9	46.7
2) Fair	30.0	28.4	33.0
3) Weak	30.3	35.7	20.3
6. *How do you rate the performance of Prime Minister Ismael Hanneya?*
1) Good	46.4	42.5	53.8
2) Fair	28.6	29.1	27.6
3) Weak	25.0	28.4	18.6
7. *Regarding Mahmoud Abbas’s presidency, would you say that his actions and positions conform…?*
1) Most with the interests of Fatah	43.3	47.7	34.9
2) Most with the interests of the Palestinian people, in general	50.6	42.7	60.8
3) Unsure	6.1	9.7	4.3

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
1. *Regarding Ismael Hanneya, the prime minister, would you say that his actions and positions conform…?*
1) Most with the interests of Hamas	43.8	44.6	42.3
2) Most with the interests of the Palestinian people in general	50.5	48.3	54.6
3) I don’t know	5.7	7.1	3.0
Section Three : Mecca Agreement and Unity Government
2. *Do you believe that the* *Mecca Agreement (signed by Fatah and Hamas) will stop the fighting?*
1) Yes	43.5	41.7	47.0
2) Temporarily	45.1	44.5	46.3
3) No	11.3	13.8	6.7
3. *Do you have information about the* *Mecca Agreement?*
1) Yes, I know the details	7.4	8.2	5.8
2) Yes, I know the main articles	24.7	24.6	24.8
3) I have heard about it, but am not familiar with the main articles	58.7	54.9	66.1
4) I have not heard about it	9.2	12.3	3.3
4. *Do you believe that there is a real chance to form a unity government?*
1) Yes	72.8	68.8	80.6
2) No	23.4	26.2	18.1
3) No opinion	3.8	5.1	1.4
5. *Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the success of a unity government?*
1) Optimistic	56.4	51.2	66.4
2) In between	24.5	27.4	18.9
3) Pessimistic	17.7	19.5	14.3
4) I don’t know	1.4	1.9	0.4
6. *Do you believe that the anticipated unity government will be capable of achieving the following goals?*
Lifting the international boycott of the Palestinians
1) Yes	34.1	30.6	40.7
2) Yes to some extent	31.8	31.4	32.6
3) No	31.8	35.0	25.6
4) I don’t know	2.3	2.9	1.1
Reinforcing the rule of law and dealing with the security chaos
1) Yes	42.5	38.2	50.6
2) Yes to some extent	25.8	26.9	23.7
3) No	29.1	31.3	25.0
4) I don’t know	2.6	3.6	0.8
Achieving progress in the negotiations with Israel
1) Yes	27.1	25.3	30.5
2) Yes to some extent	19.5	19.8	18.7
3) No	49.7	50.0	49.0
4) I don’t know	3.8	4.8	1.7

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Representing all Palestinians
1) Yes	45.3	43.7	48.4
2) Yes to some extent	21.5	21.1	22.1
3) No	29.5	30.6	27.5
4) I don’t know	3.7	4.6	2.0
Reinforcing democracy and freedoms
1) Yes	45.3	41.3	53.0
2) Yes to some extent	17.1	17.8	15.8
3) No	34.3	36.5	30.1
4) I don’t know	3.3	4.4	1.1
Reforming institutions and uprooting corruption
1) Yes	49.2	45.4	56.5
2) Yes to some extent	20.0	21.0	18.3
3) No	28.7	31.0	24.3
4) I don’t know	2.1	2.7	0.9
Improving economic and living conditions
1) Yes	45.5	40.7	54.6
2) Yes to some extent	24.0	23.6	24.8
3) No	28.4	32.9	19.8
4) I don’t know	2.1	2.8	0.9
Organizing popular resistance against the wall and the settlements
1) Yes	35.3	31.2	42.9
2) Yes to some extent	15.7	15.1	16.8
3) No	45.3	49.2	38.0
4) I don’t know	3.8	4.5	2.3
1. *Do you think that* *Israel will place obstacles in the way of the new unity government?*
1) Yes	87.1	87.0	87.1
2) Yes to some extent	6.3	5.8	7.3
3) No	5.1	5.5	4.4
4) I don’t know	1.5	1.7	1.2
2. *Do you think that the* *United States will place obstacles in the way of the new unity government?*
1) Yes	87.9	88.1	87.7
2) Yes to some extent	5.6	4.9	6.8
3) No	5.1	5.5	4.4
4) I don’t know	1.4	1.5	1.1
3. *Do you think that the EU will place obstacles in the way of the new unity government?*
1) Yes	51.5	54.1	46.6
2) Yes to some extent	26.2	24.1	30.0
3) No	17.3	16.3	19.3
4) I don’t know	5.0	5.5	4.1

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
1. *Do you think that internal political obstacles will stand in the way of the unity government’s success?*
1) Yes	54.8	56.3	51.9
2) Yes to some extent	20.1	18.7	22.7
3) No	22.1	21.3	23.5
4) I don’t know	3.1	3.7	1.9
Section Four : Final Status Issues
2. *Which of the following mechanisms proposed for the management/settlement of the conflict with* *Israel is in your view the most sensible means for realizing the national liberation and the establishment of a Palestinian state?*
1) Armed resistance	15.3	15.8	14.4
2) Negotiations	21.1	21.0	21.2
3) Combination of armed resistance and negotiations	39.3	37.8	42.2
4) Peaceful popular resistance and negotiations side-by-side	21.9	22.6	20.6
5) I don’t know	2.4	2.8	1.6
3. *Please rank the following priorities of the Palestinian society (for the coming 1-3 years):*
End occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state
1) Important	91.0	91.0	91.0
2) Important to some extent	5.5	5.3	5.8
3) Not Important	3.2	3.2	3.2
4) No opinion	0.4	0.5	0.0
Lay the foundations for national unity and maintain the cohesiveness of the Palestinian society
1) Important	94.0	92.8	96.2
2) Important to some extent	4.7	5.5	3.1
3) Not Important	1.0	1.3	0.7
4) No opinion	0.3	0.4	0.0
Enhance the economic conditions and reduce unemployment and poverty rates
1) Important	95.7	94.7	97.6
2) Important to some extent	3.5	4.3	2.0
3) Not Important	0.7	0.8	0.5
4) No opinion	0.1	0.2	0.0
Achieve progress in the negotiations and ultimately reach a comprehensive peace agreement
1) Important	85.6	84.4	87.8
2) Important to some extent	8.3	9.1	6.8
3) Not Important	5.7	5.9	5.2
4) No opinion	0.5	0.6	0.2
Realize democracy and enhance public and personal freedoms
1) Important	87.6	85.2	92.1
2) Important to some extent	8.0	9.6	5.0
3) Not Important	3.7	4.3	2.6
4) No opinion	0.7	0.9	0.2
End internal chaos and vigilantism
1) Important	96.4	95.2	98.7
2) Important to some extent	2.4	3.4	0.5
3) Not Important	0.6	0.9	0.2
4) No opinion	0.5	0.5	0.6
Fight corruption within the Palestinian political system
1) Important	94.6	93.0	97.6
2) Important to some extent	4.1	5.7	1.0
3) Not Important	1.1	1.0	1.4
4) No opinion	0.2	0.4	0.0
Preserve social norms and traditions as well as the religious values
1) Important	90.4	87.9	95.1
2) Important to some extent	7.4	8.7	4.9
3) Not Important	1.8	2.7	0.0
4) No opinion	0.5	0.7	0.0
Promote the status of Palestinian women and marginalized social groups
1) Important	84.6	82.3	88.8
2) Important to some extent	11.4	12.9	8.6
3) Not Important	3.3	3.8	2.2
4) No opinion	0.7	0.9	0.4
Enhance Palestinian diplomatic relations and secure financial support
1) Important	92.5	90.4	96.6
2) Important to some extent	5.0	6.1	2.7
3) Not Important	1.8	2.6	0.3
4) No opinion	0.7	0.9	0.4
4. *Please evaluate the following statements on the impact of civil and political forces:*
Palestinian NGOs are incapable of having a significant impact on the current Palestinian crisis
1) True	50.3	50.3	50.4
2) Somewhat true	26.2	25.2	28.0
3) False	23.5	24.5	21.6
In view of the severe polarization between Hamas and Fatah, there is a need to establish a third political way that brings together all the Palestinian democratic forces
1) True	52.5	48.4	60.2
2) Somewhat true	13.0	14.9	9.3
3) False	34.6	36.7	30.5
It is better to shift all basic services to the Palestinian civil society to avoid a situation in which these services are affected by the political situation
1) True	66.9	64.5	71.4
2) Somewhat true	15.2	16.5	12.7
3) False	17.9	18.9	15.9

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Enhancing the role of the civil society and the public sector would contribute to the alleviation of the current state of political standoff/tension within the Palestinian society
1) True	82.0	80.6	84.8
2) Somewhat true	11.2	11.3	11.0
3) False	6.8	8.1	4.2
There is a policy of exclusion practiced against groups which are neither affiliated with Fatah and represented by the presidency, nor affiliated to Hamas and represented by the government.
1) True	70.8	68.7	74.7
2) Somewhat true	14.0	15.2	11.8
3) False	15.2	16.1	13.5
Section Five : Political Affiliation
1. *Are you a member in a civil society association – i.e., union, syndicate, etc.?*
1) Yes	20.9	21.5	19.7
2) No	79.0	78.3	80.3
3) No opinion	0.1	0.2	0.0
2. *Are you a member of a political party or faction?*
1) Yes	21.9	20.8	23.9
2) No	77.5	78.4	75.8
3) No opinion	0.7	0.8	0.4
3. *Which of the following political groups do you support?*
1) DFLP	0.6	0.7	0.3
2) PPP	1.1	1.4	0.3
3) Fatah	30.8	28.7	34.7
4) PFLP	3.2	3.5	2.6
5) Islamic Jihad	1.8	1.5	2.4
6) Feda	0.5	0.8	0.0
7) Hamas	21.7	21.1	22.7
8) Mubadara	0.8	1.1	0.2
9) Independent, with Islamic leaning	0.5	0.7	0.0
10) Third way	0.7	1.1	0.0
11) Other Leftist Factions	0.6	0.9	0.2
12) Other National Factions	0.4	0.4	0.4
13) Other Islamic Factions	5.6	5.2	6.4
14) Independent with Leftist leaning	1.0	1.4	0.2
15) Independent with Fatah leaning	2.3	1.8	3.3
16) None	28.5	29.6	26.3
4. *If legislative elections took place in the coming future, would you participate?*
1) Yes	65.4	61.5	72.8
2) No	29.7	32.7	24.1
3) Undecided	4.9	5.8	3.1

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
1. *If new legislative elections were carried out today, for which bloc would you vote?(All respondents)*
1) Al Badil	1.0	1.4	0.1
2) Independent Palestine	1.8	2.1	1.1
3) Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa	3.1	3.8	1.8
4) Martyr Abu al Abbas	0.4	0.3	0.6
5) Freedom and Social Justice	0.5	0.6	0.4
6) Change and Reform (Hamas)	22.4	21.5	24.0
7) National Coalition for Justice and Democracy	0.1	0.2	0.0
8) The Third Way	1.1	1.4	0.4
9) Freedom and Independence	0.0	0.0	0.0
10) Social Justice	0.3	0.5	0.0
11) Fatah	33.1	30.0	39.0
12) Undecided	11.5	12.6	9.3
13) I will not participate	24.7	25.5	23.3
2. *(For the undecided voters) To which one of these lists you feel closest?*
1) Al Badil	0.9	1.2	0.0
2) Independent Palestine	3.2	3.4	2.6
3) Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa	4.0	5.5	0.0
4) Martyr Abu al Abbas	0.0	0.0	0.0
5) Freedom and Social Justice	0.7	0.9	0.0
6) Change and Reform (Hamas)	43.6	44.8	40.6
7) National Coalition for Justice and Democracy	1.2	1.7	0.0
8) The Third Way	0.8	1.1	0.0
9) Freedom and Independence	0.5	0.6	0.0
10) Social Justice	0.0	0.0	0.0
11) Fatah	34.9	33.8	37.7
12) Undecided	8.0	3.7	19.0
13) I will not participate	2.4	3.3	0.0

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