RELATED:Mideast Monitor: Polling the Arab publicPoll: 'Most Palestinians back direct talks'The study, "Palestinian Pulse," was conducted by Jonathan Schanzer and Mark Dubowitz, both employed by the FDD, and utilized ConStrat, a company that deploys military-grade technology on behalf of the US Central Command. Schanzer and Dubowitz said the following in an article on The National Interest:"While polls are often designed to elicit specific responses, social media is largely free of outside manipulation. Most Palestinians write under pseudonyms, enabling them to discuss controversial issues without fear of retribution."The overriding conclusion drawn from the 102 page report of the results was that "although the Palestinian web landscape is not devoid of users with moderate to liberal views, it is dominated by radicalism."Some of the study's conclusions were not altogether surprising, including that Hamas shows little desire for peace with Israel, that Fatah is in internal disarray, and that the conflict between Hamas and Fatah shows little sign of being resolved.The authors went on to make recommendations following an analysis of the material collected.Firstly, said the authors, "the US cannot afford to discount the potential impact of deepening Palestinian radicalism and rejectionism. If the online environment is even a relatively accurate indicator of Palestinian public sentiment, the Obama administration should consider the serious risks to Israeli security from an overly aggressive and premature push for a comprehensive peace agreement."Further, the US government should keep a close eye on the Palestinian online presence, as this could yield more accurate results than the often-disputed opinion polls, they said.
'Palestinian web landscape dominated by radicalism'
New research focuses on search engines, social media sites, YouTube, Twitter, and other sources used to gauge views of general population.
RELATED:Mideast Monitor: Polling the Arab publicPoll: 'Most Palestinians back direct talks'The study, "Palestinian Pulse," was conducted by Jonathan Schanzer and Mark Dubowitz, both employed by the FDD, and utilized ConStrat, a company that deploys military-grade technology on behalf of the US Central Command. Schanzer and Dubowitz said the following in an article on The National Interest:"While polls are often designed to elicit specific responses, social media is largely free of outside manipulation. Most Palestinians write under pseudonyms, enabling them to discuss controversial issues without fear of retribution."The overriding conclusion drawn from the 102 page report of the results was that "although the Palestinian web landscape is not devoid of users with moderate to liberal views, it is dominated by radicalism."Some of the study's conclusions were not altogether surprising, including that Hamas shows little desire for peace with Israel, that Fatah is in internal disarray, and that the conflict between Hamas and Fatah shows little sign of being resolved.The authors went on to make recommendations following an analysis of the material collected.Firstly, said the authors, "the US cannot afford to discount the potential impact of deepening Palestinian radicalism and rejectionism. If the online environment is even a relatively accurate indicator of Palestinian public sentiment, the Obama administration should consider the serious risks to Israeli security from an overly aggressive and premature push for a comprehensive peace agreement."Further, the US government should keep a close eye on the Palestinian online presence, as this could yield more accurate results than the often-disputed opinion polls, they said.