Writing in the Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah dissects two recent polls that claim to measure Palestinian attitudes towards the peace process and possible solutions to the conflict following the war in Gaza. He looks at two polls – one by the organization One Voice, whose work has been criticized by Palestinians as advancing a pro-Israeli agenda, and another by the Oslo-based Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies. As can be expected the One Voice poll received much international media attention, while the Fafo didn’t.
The whole analysis is worth reading, but one piece that stands out is how far the US standing has fallen among Palestinians by pushing a bogus peace process that has only made conditions worse. Abunimah:
Palestinians still
overwhelmingly support a negotiated settlement, but the “peace process”
and its sponsors have lost all credibility. Just one percent thought
the US had a “great deal” of concern for the Palestinian cause, and 77
percent thought it had none at all. The “Quartet,” the self-appointed ad hoc
grouping of US, EU, UN and Russian representatives that monopolizes
peace efforts earns the trust of just 13 percent of Palestinians.Post-Gaza, Palestinians hold jaundiced views of all Western countries
and the Arab states aligned with them. Iran and Turkey, which took
strong public stands in solidarity with Palestinians, have seen support
surge.If the Fafo poll confirms that the Western-backed effort to destroy
Hamas, impose quisling leaders, and blockade and punish Palestinians
until they submit to Israel’s demands has failed, a useful conclusion
from the One Voice survey is that given a free choice, Israelis reject
all solutions requiring them to give up their monopoly on power and to
respect Palestinian rights and international law.
