Background After successive negations by top Palestinian officials of the news reporting a deterioration of Arafat’s health, he was taken to a military hospital in Paris for a possible diagnosis that would reveal the nature of his sickness. Despite all assurances that the Palestinian president does not suffer from a dangerous disease, fear among Palestinian people is not contained. Despite Arafat’s absence from the Palestinian scene because of his sickness, Palestinian officials confirmed that such absence will not leave any political or security gaps, nor will it lead to any kind of chaos in the Palestinian street. Within this atmosphere of assurances, the PLO’s Executive Committee held a meeting chaired by Mahmoud Abbas and Ahmad Qurai’ was said to chair the Palestinian Security Council until the return of Arafat. On the other side of the scene, the Israeli Knesset approved of Sharon’s unilateral disengagement plan, which calls for a redeployment of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of settlements there. The Palestinian official response to this plan confirmed adherence to the Road Map agreement and stated that any withdrawal from Gaza should be in co-ordination with the Palestinian Authority. Several Palestinian factions consider the withdrawal a victory resulting from Palestinian resistance. On the side of elections, the registration come to an end and official data have not been fixed neither for conducting the local council election nor the presidential and legislative ones.

Title

Opinion Polls and Survey Studies Unit, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine, 3-5 November 2004

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Publisher Country

Palestine

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

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Year

2004

Pages

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