Most Palestinians Support Uprising: PollA poll released on Thursday showed that 69 percent of the Palestinians are still supporting the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.The figure was 1.2 percent less than that of the April poll, but showed an increase of 9 percent compared to last December, said the poll. The questionnaire was conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center among 1,201 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from June 14 to 17. Among the Palestinians interviewed in the current poll, 54.4 percent supported both military and popular forms of uprising, compared to 62.3 percent in April. But the Palestinians who only supported the popular form of uprising increased by 19.7 percent from the April poll. A majority of Palestinians, or 70.6 percent, considered Palestinian military operations against Israeli targets a suitable response under the current circumstances, with only 19.8 percent opposing. The figures were similar to the previous two polls. In the current poll, 40.7 percent of Palestinians supported the continuation of armed operations within the occupied territories and Israel at the same time, while those who supported military operations inside Israel account for 63.8 percent. For suicide bombings in Israel, 68.6 percent of the Palestinians voiced their support for such actions against Israel, almost a 2 percent increase from the April poll. Almost half of the Palestinians believed that Palestinian interests require the continuation of uprising and negotiations at the same time. And those who support only the path of negotiations dropped to 11.5 percent from 21.1 percent in the December poll. A total of 67.1 percent of the interviewees did not support putting an end to the uprising in exchange for stopping the Jewish settlement activities, while only 25.1 percent of Palestinians supported such an idea. As for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's ceasefire order, 52.3 percent strongly supported the decision, while 44.2 percent opposed that, according to the poll. With regard to whether or not Arafat is controlling the situation, 71.6 percent of the interviewees said that Arafat has a total control, while 25.8 percent gave a negative answer. The poll also showed that 84.7 percent of the interviewed were dissatisfied with the Arab support for the uprising, compared to 60.5 percent in the December poll. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |