Background
By the
end of the truce period that was announced between Israel and Hamas through Egyptian
mediation, Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Palestinian people in the
Gaza Strip that targeted animate and inanimate objects bequeathing huge destruction
the results of which will continue for years to come. No sooner had the
aggression against Gaza ceased, than the talk about rebuilding Gaza began; the
rebuilding of Gaza became another point of controversy added to the letters of
Palestinian internal split. The Palestinian split did not end with the
destruction of Gaza despite talks about a Palestinian-Palestinian debate; split
is susceptible to be intensified as the declarations made by some Palestinian
officials indicate. The Palestinian question, thus, is totally driven into the
maze of Arab and regional differences and the Palestinian decision making
process is no longer purely and genuinely Palestinian. On the other side of the
Gaza issue, several Arab and foreign countries are paying tremendous efforts to
restore truce to the Gaza Strip based on new conditions. Hamas insists on
opening Rafah crossing first to be followed be opening the other crossings. Israel
rejects Hamas’ demands with reference to the crossings. Israel insists on freeing
prisoner of war Gilad Shalit as a precondition to discuss the other issues
though the Egyptian mediation.
The Results Following are the results of the Palestinian Public Opinion
Poll no. 37 conducted by the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies at
An-Najah National University during the period from 1-2 February 2009. The
University sponsors all polls conducted by its Center. Palestinian Public
Opinion Poll no. 37 undertakes the current political realities including the
Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and its consequences, aids allocated for
the rebuilding of the Strip, attempts towards achieving a Palestinian national
reconciliation, attempts to restore truce between Israel and Hamas, the
possibility of sending Arab and international troops to the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip in addition to political affiliations and other issues. The sample included 1361 persons whose age
group is 18 and above and who have the right to vote. The enclosed
questionnaire was distributed on 861 persons from the West Bank and 500 persons
from the Gaza Strip. The sample was drawn randomly and the margin of error is
about ±3%; still 4.1% of the members of the sample refused to answer the
questionnaire.