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Most Palestinians want peace
30/01/2006 14:45 - (SA)
Ramallah - Nearly three-quarters of Palestinians want the newly-elected Hamas movement to drop its call for the destruction of Israel, according to an opinion poll released on Monday.
The survey by the Ramallah-based Near East Consulting institute also found that 84% of those surveyed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip want a peace agreement with Israel while 86% want the moderate Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas to remain in his post.
The militant Islamist movement Hamas, which has been behind the majority of anti-Israeli attacks during a five-year uprising, has come under growing pressure to drop its charter's call for the destruction of the Jewish state in the wake of its landslide victory last week over the secular Fatah party.
While Hamas's international reputation is based on its campaign of attacks against Israel, its popularity in the West Bank and Gaza stems in part from its providing a safety net for some of the most impoverished Palestinians.
Rather than indicate backing for Hamas's hard-line tactics, the survey found that a total of 73% of respondents believe Hamas should "change its position on the elimination of the state of Israel".
Not only did an overall 84% support a peace agreement with Israel, but 77% of Hamas voters also wanted a settlement.
Israel has ruled out any prospect of negotiating with a Hamas government which refuses to accept its right to exist and continues to advocate violence, even though Hamas has not carried out any attacks for over a year.
A total of 1 200 people were questioned in the survey which has a 3.5% margin of error.
- AFP
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