Poll: Most Palestinians reject Abbas, object to his views

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Most of the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip reject Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and refuse his views regarding dealing with the Palestinian cause, Safa news agency reported yesterday.

The poll was conducted on 12-18 November by poll expert Nabil Kokali, published by the Palestinian Polling Centre, revealed that 47.8 per cent of the participants called for Abbas’s resignation, while only 30.8 per cent called for him to remain in his position and 21.4 per cent refused to comment.

Meanwhile, 58.9 per cent of the participants said they are not content with Abbas’s performance, while 29.9 per cent said they are content, 11.5 per cent said they don’t know.

Regarding Abbas’s views towards a political solution to the Palestinian cause, 56.1 per cent said that they reject them, 28 per cent supported them while 15.9 per cent refused to comment.

Some 58.8 per cent of the participants criticised Abbas’s latest speech in front of the UN General Assembly which took place last September.

If Abbas was a candidate in new elections, 32.1 per cent said they would vote for him while 28.7 per cent said they would vote for Hamas Deputy Chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Commenting on the results, Kokali said that they refer to Abbas’s weakness in taking decisive actions in favour of the Palestinians and his views always oppose the Palestinian public opinion.

Abbas was elected PA president in 2005 and his term ended by 2009. Following the end of his term, he and his movement, Fatah, refused to step down.

Several Palestinian factions, including Hamas accuse him of putting obstacles ahead of holding new general Palestinian elections.

Some 50.4 per cent of those polled said they supported a third intifada, while 35.2 per cent rejected it. More than 42 per cent wanted it to be an armed intifada, while 29.9 per cent wanted it to be peaceful protests.

Regarding Hamas, 45.8 per cent supported the movement’s position that it is time for a third intifada, while 29.7 per cent rejected this view.

Kokali revealed that more than 62 per cent of respondents in the poll objected to returning to the negotiations table with Israel, which he attributed to the futile results that negotiations achieve.