Palestinian Arabs

The survey showed that by the end of the first year of the Intifada the attitudes of the Palestinian people towards Israel, the peace process and negotiations had become sterner. Support for the continuation of the Intifada increased from 80.2% in April 2001 to 85.3% in September. Support for the Oslo Agreement declined from 38.1% in June 2001 to 29.2% in September 2001.

Of the 1198 people interviewed, 41.9% consider the peace process dead and think there is no possibility of resuming negotiations, as compared with 27.4% who held this view in June 2001.
The survey showed that the percentage of those believing the goal of the Intifada is to end the occupation as required by UN Security Council resolution No.242 declined from 45.2% in June to 40.1% in September. In contrast, those who think the goal of the Intifada is the liberation of all Palestinian soil increased from 41.2% in June to 48.6% in September.
A remarkable results was that the Palestinian people, after one year of the Intifada, staunchly support of its continuation and 53% of those surveyed said they are optimistic or very optimistic that it will achieve its goals.
There is a noticeable change in the political positions of Palestinians. Support for a two-state solution as the ideal solution dropped from 47.2% in June to 42.9% in September, while Palestinian support for a bi-national state in all of historic Palestine as the ideal solution increased from 22.2% in June to 31.8% in September.
Support for Palestinian factions has also shifted. Fatah was trusted more than any other faction by 34.9% in June but only by 29.2% in September, while support of the Hamas Movement increased from 18.6% in June to 20.7% in September. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat remained the most trusted personality of those interviewed though only 23.5% trusted him in September, as compared with 27.8% in June.
After a year of Intifada, the Palestinian people increased its support for violence and are losing faith in negotiations and the peace process. Those who consider armed operations a suitable response in these circumstances increased from 70.6% in June to 84.6% in September. The proportion of those who oppose armed operations and consider them not beneficial under the current circumstances fell from 19.8% to 9.9% over the same period. The Intifada was preferred to negotiations as the best path to achieve the Palestinian people's aims by 28.8% of those interviewed in June, but by 35.9% of those interviewed in September.
Asked about the reasons for the eruption of the Intifada a year ago, 47% said that Sharon's visit to al-Aqsa Mosque was the reason and 26.5% said that the reason is the continuation of the occupation. Only 13.4% said that the failure of the Camp David negotiations the reason. The majority of Palestinians, 58.3%, believe that the failure of Camp David negotiations was due to the Jerusalem issue, 19.6% - that it was due to the Jewish settlements issue, and 15.7% - that it was due to the refugee issue.
The Israeli assassination policy of targeted assassinations is the most harmful to the Palestinian people according to 34.3% of those interviewed. 26% regard the policy of closures and checkpoints as the most harmful.
Half the Palestinians, 50%, considered the role and behavior of the Israeli peace camp as bad, 36% said it is unacceptable. Only 11% considered it acceptable and only 2% considered it good.

Note: A random sample of 1198 people over the age of 18 was interviewed face-to-face at 60 sampling points on 11-17 September 2001. In the West Bank and Jerusalem, 758 people were polled from the Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm, Qalqilia, Hebron, Jericho Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jerusalem areas and from refugee camps in Jenin, Askar, Al-Fawwar, Daheishe, Ain Al-Sultan and Qalandia. In the Gaza Strip, 440 people were polled from the Gaza, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah areas, as well as from the Jabalia, Shati, Al-Nuseirat, Al-Maghazi, Al-Bureij, Khan Younis, Rafah and Tal Al-Sultan refugee camps. The margin of error is 3%. 51.8% of the respondents were from West Bank, 11.4 % from Jerusalem, 36.8% from the Gaza Strip. 30% said they live in villages, 16.4% in refugee camps, 53.6% in towns or cities. 51.2% were male, 48.8% were female. 65.8% were married, 24.3%, single, 4.8% widowed, 1.8% divorced. The average age of the respondents was 34 years. The JMCC is a purely Palestinian institution. Most Israelis would agree that, given these Palestinian attitudes and trends, there is no hope of reaching agreement with them.

Arab News, Saudi Arabia, 17 October 2001
Summary of report from Gaza by Nazir Majally, Arab News Staff

A Hamas leader confirmed that Israelis, pursuing their policy of assassination, yesterday killed a third member of Hamas in as many days. Yad Al-Akhraz, 28, was killed when the blast ripped through his house in Rafah refugee camp in the south of the Gaza strip. The Hamas leader for Gaza, Ismail Haniya, said the dead man was a Hamas activist and accused Israel of blowing him up.

Palestinian minister Nabil Shaath accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of following a "policy of assassination" and further escalating the Middle East conflict.

After winning strong support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair for the creation of a Palestinian state and a new push for peace talks, Arafat visited Dublin and The Hague to muster further support. In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern promised Arafat he would help through the EU and the UN to press for an urgent resumption of peace talks with Israel and the creation of a Palestinian state. Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok joined international calls for the creation of a Palestinian state yesterday, just one day after British Prime Minister Tony Blair publicly backed the idea. In a hastily convened news conference with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Kok said Europe and the US would keep up the pressure on all parties to resume the Middle East negotiations. "There should be no doubt about the absolute necessity to have lasting peace, and this can only be the case if there is a viable Palestinian state offering and guaranteeing complete security with no danger for the Israeli people," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's political crisis deepened when Jewish settlers turned on him after two ultra-nationalist parties stormed out of his coalition in protest at peace moves. Sharon struggled to limit the political damage caused by US pressure to make him turn his back on election pledges and make concessions to Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians. In Tel Aviv, Israeli analysts warned that the peace initiative snowballing in the wake of Arafat's snap European tour could sound the death knell for Sharon's government.