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VIEWS OF PEACE IN THE TERRITORIES By PCPO Key findings of the poll were: A plurality (42.8%) believes that the media provide more attention to extremist voices. Around one-third (33.7%) believe a permanent peace agreement with the Israeli can be achieved in the near future (within 4 years or less). A substantial majority (50.5%) supports to various degrees the Palestinian Independence Chart. The Objective of the Poll: The target of this poll is to examine the directions and inclinations of the Palestinian people towards the peace process with Israel and how far the ordinary citizen can impact this peace process. This poll, furthermore, casts light on the significant role of the media in the Palestinian – Israeli conflict and probes the public support for the Palestinian Independence Chart and the Arab Peace Initiative based on the solution of two states for two nations. We hope that the gathered information would be of great benefit to all parties concerned. Introduction: In the most recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) in cooperation with " Souhtouna – Palestine, the One Voice Initiative" during the period from March 22nd to 26th, 2006 under the supervision of Dr. Nabil Kukali, a random sample of (677) Palestinian adults, 18 years and older, representing the various demographic specimens of the people living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, has been interviewed. Dr. Fathi Darwish, Director of Souhtouna Palestine – One Voice Initiative, said the most significant result this poll has revealed is that half of the Palestinian people is supporting the Palestinian Independence Chart and the Arab Peace Initiative based on the solution of two states for two nations. "This emphasizes the desire of our Palestinian people to achieve a just and comprehensive peace backed by the principle of two states for two nations and the UN resolutions", Dr. Darwish added at his Ramallah office. Dr. Kukali, Director of PCPO, from his side, said that about 43% of the Palestinian people believe that the media provide more attention to extremist voices rather than to moderate voices. The Findings; Q.1 Do you believe a permanent peace agreement with the Israelis can be achieved in the near future (within 4 years of less)?
Q.2 Do you believe or not believe that your personal actions can contribute towards reaching a permanent peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians?
Q.3 There are those who say this conflict is mainly a conflict of Israelis vs. Palestinians, and there are those who say that the real conflict is between the moderate majority that wants peace on both sides vis a vis violent extremist groups that do not want peace. With which group do you agree more?
Q.4 Do you feel the media provides an accurate report of the reality or does it accentuate and magnify extremist voices?
Q.5 Have you heard about souhtouna – Palestine, the One Voice initiative, the movement for peace and independence through non-violent empowerment of citizens?
Q.6 Do you support, or not, the Palestinian Independence Chart and the Arab Peace Initiative on the basis of two states for two nations?
Q.7 Which reasons, you think, contributed to the victory of Hamas in the legislative elections held on January 25th, 2006?
Methodology of the Survey Study: "All interviews took place on the basis of random choices of respondents' homes, i.e. face-to-face during different working hours, at least 5 hours a day, including the evening time, in order to ensure proper representation of those sub-groups of the population, which would otherwise be difficult to reach and selecting one individual in each household using Last Birthday Method. ", Mr. Elias Kukali, a staff member of the Research & Studies Section at the PCPO, said. The choices were taken from a total of (156) election sites, from which (117) sites are located in West Bank and (39) sites in Gaza Strip according to the distribution of the Central Election committee. These election sites were randomly chosen by using the method of the simple random sample. These in turn were the beginning of the random sample choice made from those regions in accordance with PCPO's long experienced methodology. The margin of error was (±3.76%) at a significance and confidence levels of (5%) and (95%) respectively. Elias Kukali added "the percentage of female respondents was (49.3%) whereas that of the male respondents reached (50.7%). He said the composition of the sample according to the residential area was as follows: (62.0%) West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and (38.0%) Gaza Strip. He further pointed out that the allocation of the sample in respect of the type of residence was as follows: (48.9%) city, (32.9%) village and (18.2%) refugee camp and that the average age of the respondents was (34.6) years. |