Background After President Bush's visit to
Ramallah which set in motion the permanent status negotiations between the
Palestinians and the Israelis, Israel escalated military operations against the
Gaza Strip and closed all crossings banning the entrance of fuel and food except
in very limited amounts raising danger in the Strip to the level of a human
catastrophe that the United Nations agencies warned against. In the same context the Palestinian Authority
warned that the Israeli escalation will jeopardize the negotiations and
eventually will stop them. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have called upon President
Abu Mazen to stop negotiations dismissing them as useless and absurd. On the
other side of the scene, the Palestinian internal crisis is still going on
without any imminent breakthrough; the PA insists on its demand of Hamas to
back up from their coup as a precondition for a dialogue while Hamas expresses
willingness to conduct a debate without conditions.
The Results Following
are the results of the Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 32 conducted by the
Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies at An-Najah National University
during the period from 26-28 January 2008. The University sponsors all polls
conducted by its Center. Palestinian public opinion poll no. 32 undertakes
the current political realities especially the incidents that took place in
Gaza, the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel, the visit of the US
President to the West Bank in addition to political affiliations. The sample
included 1360 persons whose age group is 18 and above and who have the right to
vote. The enclosed questionnaire was distributed on 860 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 2.7% of the members of the sample refused
to answer the questionnaire.