Poll: Majority of Palestinians back kidnappings, Qassam fire

[Behind the Aegis]

A sizable majority of Palestinians support the continued kidnappings of Israelis as well as persistent Qassam rocket fire as a means to pressure Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, according to a new poll commissioned by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, the results of which were released Sunday.

Of the 1,197 respondents from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 66.8 percent expressed support for further kidnappings of Israeli civilians while 77.2 percent backed the Kerem Shalom tunnel operation and subsequent kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit.

Nonetheless, just 47.7 percent of those polled said they believed the Shalit affair would end positively for the Palestinian side.

The poll also showed that 60 percent of the public supports the continued Qassam rocket fire into Israel as opposed to 36 percent who oppose.


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[AlamoDemoc]

1. I think the majority of the World public support the freedom of Palestine

...don't you agree?

[Behind the Aegis]

2. and that has what to do with the OP?

[AlamoDemoc]

4. I think polls say a lot...don't you think?

I mean if we are using polls here, we might also agree that the world public opinion matters, no?

[Behind the Aegis]

7. and your opinion on THIS poll is?

:shrug:

[sabbat hunter]

3. what do y ou consider palestine

the west bank and gaza?

or like hamas do you consider palestine to be from the mediterranean to the jordan?



i would however like to know the polling technique as posted by aegis.

[Behind the Aegis]

6. hey, hey!

:hi:

It came from the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center. I haven't found the poll as of yet. Hopefully there will be a copy of it online.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. so, just Gaza and the WB?

[sabbat hunter]

13. 6 day war

the 6 day war was 39 years ago. (1967)

does that mean everything israel (over 40 years) is really palestine in your opinion?

or is palestine the west bank and gaza?

[Behind the Aegis]

12. Here is a link to the actual poll!

http://www.jmcc.org/publicpoll/results/2006/no59.pdf

On edit: It is a PDF, so you will need Adobe Acrobat to read it.

[Joanne98]

5. This has backfired bigtime.

[still_one]

10. Both sides are not doing what would be in their best interests

[INDIA]

11. If these polls are true...

And I'm not saying they are, then the Palestinian people just lost all my sympathy. With neighbors like this, what choice does Israel have?:shrug:

[rsr1771]

14. sad

That a large amount of Palestinians support kidnapping people is disturbing and sad. Can you imagine if MLK had urged violence and similar tactics against the forces he fought against? While Israel should not be let off the hook, those who support suicide bombings and kidnappings are a disgrace.

[INDIA]

15. Agreed...

Once again, polls can be way off, but if this IS in fact accurate, the Palestinian people should be ashamed of themselves.

[pelsar]

16. its not surprising....

nor is it the first poll which claims the palestenains prefer the violent route.

years ago, some palestenains intellectuals (Ashraw, etc) had a full page ad in the palestenain paper in the westbank calling for an end to the violent intifada II and returning to the methods of intifada I -semi non violent but restricted to the westbank and gaza.

a week later they apologised for insulting the martyrs who had died....end of nation wide palestenian non violent protests.

The palestenians are well aware of the price they pay for the violence as their ever miserable lives keep getting worse, yet according to many polls (and some will be contradictory within the polls themselves)....they still prefer it.

fact is, there has never been a large palestenian peaceful protest or movement, small pockets of rockthrowers (called "peaceful" by those who like to pretend throwing rocks is peaceful-i doubt they would try that in their home town.....) is all they've ever managed to do, nor can i recall any polls that support them.

they've chosen a really stuiped route, aided by their arab brethren, who care little for them, and the far left who have a different agenda....

[Andromeda]

22. Welcome to DU...

:hi:

[The Magistrate]

17. An Odd Feature Of This Poll, Sir

Is that, if one assumes those who do not approve of the capture of the soldier are all included among those who think the thing will turn out badly for the people of Arab Palestine, then nearly one in three both support the course, and think it will turn out badly for the people of Arab Palestine.

[Behind the Aegis]

18. Did you read the actual poll?

I provided a link to the actual poll. I thought the questions were "okay," but they seemed a tad...odd.

Interesting observation. What do you think it means?

[The Magistrate]

21. Those Are, Of Course, Translations, Sir

But they seem reasonable enough in their framing.

Any comment on what that overlap means would be speculative, of course. But sometimes people get so angry they do not care what it costs them to inflict some pain on what has enraged them.

It is not the first such overlap polling data has indicated through the years. Very often a sizeable proportion of the people on each side have expressed support both for some current violent action and for a quickly negotiated peace.

[pelsar]

19. the contradictions arent uncommon

i've seen polls in the past from the palesenians that support both the peace process and continued attacks.....the reasons are mired deep in the culture and if one "dares to go there"....

the "multiculturalists" generally get all "riled up"

[Recursion]

20. I don't know if that's odd

I support a very rapid withdrawl of US troops from Iraq, and I think that will turn out badly. I don't see a winning play for us in Iraq, and I would imagine many Palestinians do not see a winning play for them.

[pelsar]

23. thats why its so sad

I would imagine many Palestinians do not see a winning play for them.

because there is one....but they seem incapable of getting there.....