47 % Palestinians opposed to sucide attacks

POLL-Palestinians oppose ending suicide attacks

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A scant majority of Palestinians oppose efforts among their various factions to halt suicide bombings against Israeli civilians and disapprove of attempts at a gradual truce, a survey released Monday showed.


The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted the poll last week with 1,320 participants from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.


The poll, which had a three percent margin of error, also showed an overwhelming majority of Palestinians seek far-reaching reforms of the Palestinian Authority and would support the election or appointment of a prime minister.


Support for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was stable at 34 percent, compared with 35 percent in May and 46 percent before the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in September 2000 after peace talks froze.


Following on his heels was Marwan Barghouthi, a popular leader of the uprising and head of Arafat's Fatah faction in the West Bank who is standing trial in Israel on charges of orchestrating violence.


Barghouthi's popularity rose to 23 percent in August from 19 percent in May and 11 percent in December 2001.


At the same time, public support for Islamic militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad -- the main groups behind suicide bombings against Israelis -- has risen to 27 percent from 17 percent before the uprising, the poll showed.


The main Fatah faction saw its popularity slip to 26 percent from 37 percent in the same period.


Fifty-three percent of participants said they opposed efforts to persuade Palestinian factions to halt suicide attacks in their uprising, while 43 percent approved of the move.


The good news is that almost half oppose them.

They vote out Arafat, and jail him for murder and embezzlement of EU humanitarian contributions.

53% favor the continued slaughter of innocents, and this is considered good?

after a few more hundred suicide bombings and Israels retaliation it will be about 50/50.


Faceless Hack

I agree with you. I was just trying to be fair. Perhaps with the margin of error, it's closer to 50-50.


If Arafat would be replaced by a non-violent Palestinian, then progress might be made.

I'm afraid I don't share your optimism.


The same source indicates that current support for suicide bombings is virtually identical to support for attacks against "Israelis" in polls taken during the Summer of 2000, up from 44% during March 2000, and the highest level of support for violence since 1994.


The current polls distinguish support for attacking civilian targets in Israel to Israeli targets in the occupied territories, including civilian settlers. Support for the latter kind of violence, according to current polls, is at 90%.


Accordingly, it appears that Palestinian support for violence is at an all-time high.


In the meantime, there is no sign of any willingness to enter a political settlement from the Israeli government, which will undoubtedly increase the level of oppression in the occupied territories (having recently slid from mere poverty into outright hunger) as long as Palestinian violence continues in any form, virtually a given, and would probably do the same if it miraculously disappeared.


As the violence and oppression have increased, peaceniks on both sides have seen what little political power they ever enjoyed nearly evaporate.


The key therefore lies with the U.S., the only outside power with enough leverage to force a settlement. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has effectively terminated State Dept. efforts for a diplomative initiative, and instead has completely deferred to Israel while continuing lethal aid.


The only favorable sign I see is that the most Palestinian leaders have recognized that nothing good will happen as long as attacks on civilian targets continue. So I think you'll see more efforts by the PA security forces to reduce at least certain types of violence. So Israeli civilians and shopkeepers will get a well-deerved break.


But I suspect we'll also see that reducing violence and compromising won't make any difference to Sharon's government. If it decreases, Sharon will justify further oppression on the grounds that it "works." If it increases, he'll claim that more is needed. I hope I'm wrong.


Replacing Arafat won't make much difference. You see this in the reaction the Palestinians' call for a stop to suicide bombings. Instead of rewarding this initiative, Sharon immediately bragged to cabinet hard-liners that Israel's reciprocal move amounted to moving "two or three jeeps" around Bethlehem, keeping the city and the rest of the West Bank clamped down and desperate.

Arafat's answer to Barak's efforts was the financing of suicide bombings through Fatah.


He heads both. He has appointed mostly Fatah members as PA security. His budget for the contributions received from the EU to the PA has massive amounts left unaccounted. Explosives captured by Israeli authorities in failed suicide bombings have been traced to Fatah.


To say that Israel has a right to request that these attacks stop before they negotiate any more land away is ludicrous.


Apparently, almost half of the Palestinian people disagree with the tactics of their leadership. That is a hopeful sign. You obviously believe that suicide bombings are effective and necessary to establish a Palestinian homeland.


Nothing could be more radical, nor mistaken.