Shots Across The Bow

Palestinian support for Arafat

Palestinian support for Arafat A couple of weeks ago, I got into a debate with Tony Andragna of Quasipundit over whether the majority of Palestinians support Arafat and his suicide bombers. Tony advanced the proposition that there was a distinct segment of the Palestinian population that were moderate, and opposed to Arafat and his thugs. Tony went on to say that these moderates probably constituted a majority.
While reading the Front Page, I came across this quote:

3) The moral basis. While western media are efficient in reporting innocent Palestinian casualties, they rarely report Palestinian polls that show that 80% of Palestinians support the suicide bombings (even before the latest Israeli military operation).

The author, a resident of Tel Aviv, didn't state a source, so I went looking. and I found this:
excerpts from a December 2001 poll of the Palestinian people by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center

• The poll also shows that the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian public (80.1%) supports the continuation of al-Aqsa Intifada.
  
• The poll showed that a majority (67.5%) supports the military operations as a Palestinian proper response under the current conditions while 26.1% opposed military operations, considering them harmful to the national interest.
  
• A majority of Palestinian public (64%) still support the continuation of suicide (martyrdom) operations inside Israel compared with 68.6% in June 2001
  
• The majority of the Palestinian public (24.5%) trusts mostly President Arafat.
  

  This item needs a little explaining. Looking at the actual question, which is available at the link above, the question was "Which Palestinian personality do you trust the most?" Arafat was the highest person named, at 24.5%. Interestingly enough, the biggest vote getter was "I don't trust anyone," at 33.1% Arafat's trustworthiness was hurt in this poll as he considered a cease fire, which was extremely unpopular with Palestinians.

  
  

I also found this poll, conducted by the the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) in December 2001
Among its findings,

• 76.4% oppose the arrest of Palestinian activists violating the cease fire by the PA police.
  
• 60.5% believe that armed confrontations have won them rights unachievable any other way.
  
• 73% support a reconciliation betwen a Palestinian and Israeli State, but 41% believe reconciliation is impossible.
  
• 58.4% wouldn't want legal measures to prevent inciting acts against Israel, even if a Palestinain state was granted.
  
• 90.7% refuse to accept a school curriculem which recognizes the legitimacy of Israel, even if a Palestinian state was granted.
  
• 68.8% believe a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine is impossible
  
• 37.7% believe terrorism can be justified.
  
• 81.8% support armed attacks against Israeli targets.
  
• 61.6% oppose a UN initiative to combat terrorism
  
• 82.3% do not believe that the bombing of a disco in Israel was a terrorist act.
  
• 69.4% believe it would not be an act of terror to use chemical or biological weapons against Israel, but 93.6% believe it would be an act of terror if Israel used such weapons on them.
  

Tony, I've found the proof you were looking for. By their own admission, the majority of Palestinians support Arafat, and his tactics.

Posted by Rich at April 15, 2002 3:32 AM