Untitled Document

Latest Poll:

Poll No. 173
Nov 03, 2010

The most recent poll of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, prepared by its founder and director-general, Dr. Nabil Kukali, revealed that:
(86.7%) of the Palestinians still miss the Late President, Mr. Yasser Arafat, several years after his departure.
(56.2%) are in favor of signing the Egyptian Reconciliation Document.
(48.2%) believe that the US Congress midterm elections would impact the peace process.
(56.1%) oppose the resumption of direct talks with the Israeli government in the background of resuming the construction works in the settlements.
(46.8%) believe that the most frustrating policy conducted by the present US administration under President Barack Obama is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
(50.9%) trust Fateh leadership and (24.3 %) trust Hamas leadership.
(46.2%) support at various degrees the deployment of multinational UN-forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in case a peace deal would be within reach.

Beit Sahour – Public Relations Section at the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.

The most recent poll prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali, conducted and published by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) during the period from October 22 to 30, 2010, covered a random sample of (1005) respondents representing the various demographic specimens of adult Palestinians (18 years and above) living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. It has revealed that (56.1 %) of the Palestinians oppose at present the resumption of direct talks with the Israeli government in the background of resuming the construction works in the settlements.

Dr. Kukali said that although six years are now elapsed since the departure of the symbol leader, the Late President Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian people still miss him and his firm positions and backing. “This could be attributable to his competence of realigning the powers under his leadership,” Dr. Kukali added. He further commented that the deep nostalgic feelings of the Palestinian public towards their Late President unveils the lack of a leading personality, that may be capable of reuniting the nation. The poll finding that (56.2%) of the Palestinians are in favor of signing the Egyptian Reconciliation document is a further reference.

Dr. Kukali expressed the anxiety of a considerable rate of the Palestinian people, specifically (48.2%), about the expected results of the US Congress midterm elections, as these would restrict the movement of the US President Barack Obama in determining the US foreign policy, and particularly those issues linked to the peace process. Dr. Kukali further said in this respect that should the President’s party, the Democrats, lose their majority in the Congress, then Obama’s pressure on Israel would fade away, and consequently the Republicans, now having gained enough power, would halt any pressures on Israel. The result would be placing more obstacles on the route of the peace process that is fully stagnating at the moment.

Dr. Nabil Kukali said the results of the poll were as follows:

1) Do you agree or disagree to the resumption of the direct talks with the Israeli government in the background of resuming the building works in the Jewish settlements located in the West Bank after the expiry of the moratorium by September 26, 2010?

Response	Percentage
1. Agree	34.3%
2. Disagree	56.1%
3. Don’t know / Refuse	9.6%

2) Authentic media sources mentioned that a Palestinian – Israeli deal exists regarding the administration’s transfer of Abu Salem border crossing to the Palestinian Authority. Do you agree or disagree to the return of the Palestinian Authority taking-over the administration of this border-crossing?

Response	Percentage
1. Agree	55.5%
2. Disagree	35.4%
3. Don’t know / Refuse	9.1%

3) Are you in favor, or not, of signing the Egyptian Reconciliation Document by Hamas?

Response	Percentage
1. Favor	56.2%
2. Disfavor	29.8%
3. Don’t know / Refuse	14.0%

4) In case a peace deal would be within reach, do you support or oppose the deployment of multinational UN-forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip?

Response	Percentage
1. Strongly support	13.0%
2. Somewhat support	33.2%
3. Somewhat oppose	20.7%
4. Strongly oppose	28.7%
5. Don’t know	4.4%

5) "Up to which extent, do you think, the US Congress Midterm Elections would influence the peace process? Would they greatly influence, somewhat influence, somewhat have no influence, or have no influence at all on the peace process?"

Response	Percentage
1. Greatly influence	29.3%
2. Somewhat influence	18.9%
3. Somewhat have no influence	22.3%
4. Have no influence at all	19.3%
5. Don’t know	10.2%

6) Six years after the departure of the leader Yassir Arafat, do you feel that you miss him or not?

Response	Percentage
1. I strongly miss him	60.3%
2. I somewhat miss him	26.4%
3. I somehow don’t miss him	5.4%
4. I don’t miss him at all	6.3%
5. Don’t know	1.6%

7) Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr. Mahmoud Abbas is managing his post as PA President?

Response	Percentage
1. Satisfied	43.2%
2. Dissatisfied	44.7%
3. Don’t know	12.1%

8) How would you describe your attitudes toward the Obama Administration policy in the Middle East?

Response	Percentage
1. Hopeful	15.0%
2. Neither Discouraged nor Hopeful	50.7%
3. Discouraged	34.3%

9) If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, which of the following is the likely outcome for the Middle East region?

Response	Percentage
1. More positive	29.0%
2. Would not matter	37.4%
3. More Negative	33.6%

10) When you look back at the past year of the Obama Administration, which one of the following policies are you most disappointed with?

Response	Percentage
1. Palestine/Israel	46.8%
2. Iraq	13.8%
3. Attitudes toward Islam	18.2%
4. Afghanistan	8.6%
5. Human rights	6.2%
6. Spreading democracy	3.9%
7. Economic assistance	2.5%

11) What are your anticipations of the success chances of the direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations? Will they succeed or fail in reaching an agreement of permanent peace?

Response	Percentage
1. Certainly, they will succeed	7.2%
2. They will succeed	42.6%
3. They will fail	31.6%
4. They will surely fail	12.3%
5. No opinion / Don’t know	6.3%

12) Do you expect the realization of a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis next year?

Response	Percentage
1.Yes	13.5%
2. Likely	58.6%
3. No	26.2%
4. Don’t know	1.7%

13) Do you think the Israelis are concerned about making peace with the Palestinians?

Response	Percentage
1. Yes	16.6%
2. To some extent	46.7%
3. No	34.8%
4. Don’t know	1.9%

14) Are you more optimistic or pessimistic than in the past regarding the possibility of reaching a final solution accord between Israel and the Palestinians?

Response	Percentage
1. More optimistic than in the past	21.7%
2. Same extent of optimism as in the past	25.6%
3. Same extent of pessimism as in the past	24.3%
4. More pessimistic than in the past	25.9%
5. Don’t know / No attitude	2.5%

15) Some people have confidence in Hamas political leadership, others in Fateh political leadership, whilst others have no confidence in both leaderships. Which of the following statements is closer to your opinion?

Response	Percentage
1. I have confidence in Hamas leadership	24.3%
2. I have confidence in Fateh leadership	50.9%
3. I have no confidence in both leaderships	21.8%
4. I don’t know	3.5%

16) What is your attitude regarding the re-firing of Al-Qassam rockets from Gaza at Israel?

Response	Percentage
1. I’m strongly in favor of that	13.0%
2. I’m somewhat in favor of that	33.2%
3. I somewhat oppose that	20.7%
4. I strongly oppose that	28.7%
5. I don’t know	4.4%

17) In case all efforts fail to reach a settlement aiming at the revival of peace, which of the following options is most likely to take place on the Palestinian side:

Response	Percentage
1. Unilateral proclamation of a Palestinian state and escalation of the violent resistance	31.3%
2. Dissolution of the Palestinian Authority and putting the world before the responsibilities for the jurisdiction vacuum resulting from the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority and the steering of the resistance by the Palestinian factions	34.3%
3. Keep the status quo, i.e. the Palestinian Authority, beside developing new strategies to conduct the Palestinian affairs	29.7%
4. I don’t know	4.7%

Methodology of the Survey Study:
Mr. Elias Kukali, a staff member of the Research and Studies’ Section at the PCPO, said that all interviews of this survey were conducted inside the respondents’ homes, i.e. face-to-face during different working hours, at least five hours a’ day, including the evening time, in order to ensure proper presentation of those sub-groups of the population, which would otherwise be difficult to reach and selecting one individual in each household using the Last Birthday Method. The choices were taken from a total of (158) election sites, from which (118) are located in the West Bank and (40) sites in Gaza Strip.
Mr. E. Kukali has further established that the margin of error in this poll was (+- 3.09%) at a confidence level of (95 %). He added that the rate of the female respondents in this survey was (49.3 %) and that of the male respondents was (50.7%) . The distribution of the random sample between the Palestinian two major regions was (63.6%) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and (36.4 %) in Gaza Strip, allocated as follows: (51.5 %) urban areas, (31.7 %) rural areas and (16.8 %) refugee camps. The average age of the sample respondents was (33.5) years.

About PCPO:
The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO) was founded in February 1994 in Beit Sahour by Dr. Nabil Kukali, who became the director of this center since that time.

Since that time we are dedicated to the following activities:

1) Conducting public opinion surveys.
2) Omnibus polls and services.
3) Market studies on all kinds of trading activities.
4) Surveys of consumer attitudes, consumption habits, and market shares.
5) Communication researches.
6) Focus group sessions and workshops on various topics.
7) Rendering services in the field of investment, including feasibility studies.
8) In-depth interviews & brainstorming workshops.
9) Translation services from Arabic into English, German & Hebrew and vice-versa.

PCPO is now a name for reliability, credibility and experience not only in Palestine, but all over the world.