Palestinians want one state
2010-04-21 17:01
Jerusalem - A growing number of Palestinians support the establishment of a single state for Jews and Arabs including Israel and the occupied territories, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
The survey by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre (JMCC) found that support for a bi-national state in which Israelis and Palestinians would have equal rights had grown to 33.8% from 20.6% in June 2009.
During the same period, support for a negotiated two-state solution dropped from 55.2% to 43.9%, while 32.1% of respondents said the "peace process is dead" in response to a separate question.
Most Palestinians, 43.7%, support peaceful negotiations, while 29.8% support armed struggle and 21.9% support peaceful resistance as the best strategy for ending the Israeli occupation, the poll found.
Concerning internal politics, the poll found that 39.7% of voters would back the secular Fatah movement if elections were held this year, compared to just 14.4% who would vote for the Islamist Hamas.
Abbas popular
The Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas remains the most popular leader, and would receive 19.1% of the vote compared to his closest Hamas rival Ismail Haniyah, who would receive 11.2%.
However, nearly 30% of Palestinians said they would not vote in legislative or presidential elections if they were held now.
Pollsters conducted face-to-face interviews with 1 198 adults throughout the West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on April 10 - 15. The survey had a margin of error of three percent.
The international community along with Israeli and Palestinian leaders formally committed to a two-state solution with the 2003 roadmap agreement, and the idea of a single state has little support outside of academic circles.
Israel adamantly opposes a one-state solution because it would most likely have a Palestinian majority and result in the end of Israel as a Jewish state.
