Majority of Palestinians want parties to reconcile, says poll

PALESTINE:A new poll shows the overwhelming majority of Palestinians give national reconciliation priority over negotiations with Israel and reveals that they have lost confidence in their leaders, the UN and the international community.

Seventy-three per cent of Palestinians fear the West Bank and Gaza will drift apart and 85 per cent seek rapprochement between Fatah and Hamas. Only 58 per cent support talks with Israel, a drop of 20 points since December 2006. Ninety-four per cent of respondents say Israel is responsible for insecurity on Palestinian streets and 84 per cent believe the international com-munity is a major contributor to the chaos.

Large majorities contend they have faith in families and clans but not in politicians, security agencies, banks and financial institutions, and local and world media, with the exception of al-Jazeera which enjoys a 78 per cent approval rating as compared to 5 per cent for the BBC and 4 per cent for CNN.

Sixty-nine per cent have little or no confidence in the Palestinian emergency government led by Salam Fayyad and the same percentage feels the same way about the dismissed government headed by Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas; 35 per cent believe neither is legitimate. More than half fear the collapse of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the movement which has struggled for 39 years for Palestinian self-determination.

Asked how the current crisis could be resolved, 33 per cent favour early polls, 31 per cent a Fatah-Hamas coalition, 14 per cent a Hamas government, 6 per cent the emergency government and 16 per cent a referendum. If parliamentary elections are held today, Fatah would retain 45 per cent of the popular vote while Hamas would garner only 22 per cent, a drop of six points since Fafo's 2006 survey.

Forty per cent of voters would not take part; 55 per cent of those who cast ballots would select candidates on the basis of morality and records clear of corruption. If a presidential election is held, incumbent Mahmud Abbas would receive 20 per cent of the vote, Haniyeh 19 per cent and Marwan Barghouti, the populist West Bank Fatah leader jailed by Israel, 15 per cent.

The survey of 1,953 adults conducted by Fafo, a foundation established by the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, says only 7 per cent of Palestinians believe that former British prime minister Tony Blair is the right person to be the envoy of the Quartet in which just 10 per cent of Palestinians have any confidence.