Two-thirds of Palestinians don’t believe that US President Barack Obama is
capable of securing an agreement that would lead to the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state, according to a poll published on
Monday.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling
faction reiterated that it would not recognize Israel as a Jewish
state.
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Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf rejected demands that the Palestinians
accept Israel as a Jewish state, saying it would violate international law and
threaten to sabotage the peace talks.
Recognizing Israel as a Jewish
state would mean that “millions of Palestinians would be expelled from their
historic homes and lands – and this will never happen,” the Fatah spokesman
added.
Assaf’s remarks came as PA negotiators prepared to leave for
Washington to attend USsponsored direct talks with Israel.
The poll also
showed that a majority of Palestinians supports peace talks with
Israel.
The survey, which covered 1,010 Palestinians, was conducted by
the Bethlehembased Palestinian Center for Public Opinion headed by
Dr.
Nabil Kokali. It has a margin of error of 2 percent and was conducted
in the first week of August.
Sixty-six percent of respondents said they
did not believe in Obama’s capability to bring about the establishment of a
Palestinian state, Kokali said.
About 80% said they did not believe that
mediation efforts by US envoy George Mitchell would advance the cause of
peace.
Sixty-two percent said they supported direct and indirect peace
talks with Israel, while 31% voiced opposition.
The poll found that an
overwhelming majority of 86% was opposed to the annexation of the West
Bank to
Israel and the granting of Israeli citizenship to its Palestinians.
Only
10% favored the idea.
Nearly 55% favored a twostate solution, while 26%
said they preferred a binational state as part of a one-state
solution.
Asked to evaluate the performance of the two Palestinian
governments in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 55% said they preferred
PA
Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to his Hamas rival Ismail Haniyeh, who got
the
backing of only 22%.
Fifty-seven percent praised the Fayyad government in
the West Bank for implementing reforms, while 27% expressed the
opposite. More
than half of those polled said that corruption had declined under
Fayyad.
Speaking to reporters in Ramallah on Monday, Fayyad unveiled the
second phase of his plan to create institutions for a Palestinian state
within
one year. His government was planning to create a reality on the ground
that
would be hard to ignore.
The Palestinian government is to focus on
imposing law and order, transparency and accountability, and combatting
corruption.
“In the second year of its plan, the government is seeking to
stress national preparedness for the establishment of the state of
Palestine,”
Fayyad said. He admitted that the PA was facing financial difficulties,
making
it hard for it to meet basic needs.
In the past year alone his government
succeeded in implementing 2,000 projects in various fields, including
infrastructure, water and health development, Fayyad said.
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