Majority of West Bank youth back knife attacks on Israelis, poll finds

Results of survey conducted by JMCC show overwhelming majority of 67% of young Palestinians believe that talks will not succeed in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Updated: APRIL 25, 2016 23:41
A PALESTINIAN woman holds up a knife in the Gaza Strip. (photo credit: REUTERS)
A PALESTINIAN woman holds up a knife in the Gaza Strip.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A public opinion poll published on Monday showed that 40 percent of youths in the West Bank and 66% of those in the Gaza Strip believe that the recent wave of terrorist attacks on Israelis serves the Palestinian cause, while only 23% in the West Bank and 17% in the Gaza Strip say it harms the cause.
The poll was conducted by The Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) and covered a random sample of 1,000 Palestinians between the ages of 15-29. The poll has a margin of error of 3%.
The results showed that among 47% of Palestinian youths in the West Bank opposed knife stabbings, while 28% of youths in the Gaza Strip supported their continuation.
More than 35% of respondents in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip predicted that the violence would develop into a fully-fledged uprising, the results showed.
Palestinian youths seem to be equally split over “military operations” against Israel: 43% in favor and against.
Support among Palestinian youths for the two-state solution stands at 42%, according to the poll. Nearly 20% said they preferred a bi-national state. An overwhelming majority of 67% of respondents believe that negotiations will not succeed in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In addition, the survey found that a majority of 63% of Palestinian youths oppose working with like-minded Israeli youths to find a solution to the conflict, while only 27% supported the idea.
A majority of 52% supported a possible resumption of negotiations with Israel in comparison to 43% who opposed it.
If elections were held now, 37% of respondents said they would vote for Mahmoud Abbas and 23% for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. If Abbas does not run, 15% of Palestinian youths said that they would vote for jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti.
Haniyeh got only 14%.
The JMCC poll found that 83% of respondents had negative views about Islamic State (ISIS) in comparison to 5% who said they had a positive opinion of the terrorist group.
More than half of those polled said that ISIS is harmful to the Palestinian cause.
The poll also showed that a majority of 60% of youths relies on Facebook and Twitter as a first source of news. Only 28% said they get their news from watching television.