Poll No. 178
July 26, 2011

The most recent poll prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali reveals that:

• 65.4% support Palestinian President in going to the UN next September.
• 59.2% oppose Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk's statement vis-à-vis public opinion surveys.
• 50.3% nominate Dr. Salam Fayyad to head the next interim government.
• 72.2% say that not implementing reconciliation is detrimental to the Palestinian national interest.
• 72.9% oppose nullification of the General Secondary School Certificate Exam “Tawjihi".
• 45.6% oppose the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Beit Sahour- Public Relations Office

The most recent poll prepared by Dr. Nabil Kukali and published by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (www.pcpo.org) was carried out during the period July 6-18, 2011 and included a random sample of 1001 of Palestinian adults (over 18 years old) from Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The poll reveals that 50.3% of Palestinians nominate Dr. Salam Fayyad to head the next interim government, 63.2% of who are from the Gaza Strip and 60.4% of who are from the West Bank.

President of the PCPO, Dr. Nabil Kukali, stated that results of the poll clearly indicate that there is a genuine desire on the part of Palestinians in nominating Dr. Salam Fayyad as the prime minister of the next interim government. Dr. Kukali pointed out to the fact that support of Fayyad was higher in Gaza Strip. Dr. Kukali sustained that more than two-thirds of the Palestinian people believe that the stumbling and procrastination in putting the reconciliation into effect and ending the political divide is detrimental to the Palestinian national interest especially at this stage where we need to be united and put the national interest as a top priority so that we can encounter the challenges of next September. Dr. Kukali also mentioned that a plurality of the Palestinian public support President Abbas in going to the UN next September and get their recognition for Palestinian statehood. Despite this fact, Dr. Kukali pointed out to the fact that almost one-third of the Palestinian public oppose President Abbas's going to the UN for they express concern about the waning role of the UN in favor of the United states and its allies. He also added that many of those people believe that the UN and at least in the past decades became under the domination of the United States.

Dr. Kukali also stated that a relatively high percentage (59.2%) of Palestinians oppose Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk's statement vis-à-vis public opinion surveys that they are controlled , and that Hamas will attain a higher percentage than that it did in the year 2006. However, the percentage of those who oppose his statement in the West Bank scored higher than that in Gaza Strip (60.8% versus 56.1% respectively). Dr. Kukali also declared that public opinion surveys aim at probing the trends and attitudes of the public regarding various issues, and that any specialized institution has the right to carry out a poll and publish it to the public. Dr. Kukali also called upon other institutions to publish the results that Dr. Abu Marzouk talked about so that the public will have the chance to read them and get exposed to the methodology employed in selecting samples.

The General Situation:

When the respondents were asked " In general, do you think that things in our country are going in the right or wrong direction?" 47.3% of them say it is going in the right direction, whereas 46.0% say the opposite, , 2.40 % express no opinion , and 4.3% say " I do not know". It is noteworthy to mention that this question was asked in cooperation with the Gallup International Association and the World Independent Network for Market Research WIN/GIA.

Going to the UN:

When asked:" Some people support President of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mr, Mahmoud Abbas to apply to the Security Council and the UN secretary general for getting a recognition for a Palestinian State and for it to become a full member of the UN, while others oppose this. Which of the two views is closest to yours? " 65.4% of the respondents say they support going to the UN, whilst 31.5% oppose. and 3.1% refrain from giving an answer.

The Killing of Osama Bin Laden:

When asked' There are at least four views on the killing of Osama Bin Laden . Some people have supported his killing; some have supported his killing but disagreed with the manner in which it was done by American soldiers; others say they favor arresting Osama but not killing him; still others oppose the killing of Osama bin Laden. What is your view?” 4.6% said they support the killing , whereas 15.2% support the killing but disagree with the manner he was killed , 24.9% favor arresting him instead of killing him, 45.7% oppose the killing, 5.4% say " I do not know", 0.4% never heard of the incident, and 3.8% refuse to answer this question.

When asked" Did your view about President Obama become better , worse or remained unchanged after the assassination of Osama bin Laden?" 4.9% say it became better, whereas 42.2% say it became worse, 49.6% remained unchanged , 0.7% give other response, 0.7% give no response, and 1.9 % say " I do not know". It is noteworthy to mention that these two questions were asked in cooperation with the Gallup International Association and the World Independent Network for Market Research WIN/GIA.

Not putting the reconciliation in force:

72.2% of the Palestinians believe that not putting the reconciliation agreement in force will be detrimental to the Palestinian national interest, whereas 20.35 say the opposite , and 7.5% refrain from answering this question. However, 48.7% of Palestinians believe that not designating Dr. Salam Fayyad to head the next government will not serve Palestinian national interests , whereas 30.7% say the opposite , and 20.6% express no opinion.

Statement of President Abbas:

46.55% of Palestinians support the statement of President Mahmoud Abbas in an interview with the LBC Lebanese channel in saying that" It is his right to designate the prime minister for the next government. He said" It is my right to designate the prime minister, and he will surely be Salam Fayyad". He added, the government is my responsibility and I form it the way I want . It represents me along with my policy, and I will be held responsible if it proved to be a failure. However, 41.6% oppose this statement, whereas 11.7% showed hesitation in answering this question.

Nominating Salam Fayyad to head the next government:

When asked" Who would you nominate to head the next interim government, the government of national consensus between Fatah and Hamas?" 11.6% say they would nominate Jamal Khodary, whereas 50.3% say Salam Fayyad, 27.1% are for independent personalities, and 11.0% say "I do not know".

The feeling of the Palestinian Citizen:

When asked: “Sources close to Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad said that most likely he would turn down the offer of holding the prime minister position as not to be an obstacle that might hamper reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. How would you feel if Fayyad withdrew his nomination for the said position?” 6% say they would be happy, whilst 12.1% say they would be frustrated, 5.6% angry, 3.1% optimistic, 6.1% sad, 10.6% pessimistic, 4.9% satisfied, 8.7% affected, 16.3% apathetic, 8.9% not believing/surprised, 17.0% not affected and 0.7% reserved.

Fatah and Hamas Attitudes towards Fayyad's nomination:

When asked: "Fatah has already nominated Salam Fayyad to head the next interim government, whereas Hamas dismissed this nomination. Which view is closest to yours?" 61.4% say they support Fatah in nominating Salam Fayyad for the position, whilst 19.5% support Hamas in dismissing this nomination, and 19.1% say " I do not know".

The Tawjihi Exam:

72.9% of Palestinians oppose the nullification of the secondary school certificate exam" Tawjihi", while 24.2% support its nullification, and 2.9%^ express no opinion.

Mousa Abu Marzouk's statement:

When asked: " Now I want to read to you a statement given by the Secretary general deputy of Hamas's Politburo Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk published in Al-quds daily newspaper on June 21, 2011. After finishing the reading of the statement , I would like you to tell me whether or not you agree with this statement. Mousa Abu Marzouk says:" Based on field surveys, Hamas will attain a higher percentage than that they did in the year 2006. He added " Most of the polls that were published in the media were controlled and biased . And with objective analysis given about Hamas attitudes and supporters , Hamas will have the best status and will attain a higher percentage than that of 2006" Rotate. Do you support or oppose this statement. Do you strongly support, slightly support, slightly oppose , or strongly oppose this statement?" 7.3% say they strongly support, 27.3% say they slightly support, 39.9% slightly oppose, 19.3% strongly oppose, and 6.3% say "I do not know".

Going to the UN:

When asked: " Some people support the decision of the PA President, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, to go to the Security Council and submit an application through the Secretary General of the UN to get a recognition for a Palestinian state as to become a full member of the UN, while others oppose this. Which of the two views is closest to yours?" 65.4 % of the respondents say they support the going to the UN, whereas 31.5% oppose it, and 3.1% express no opinion.

Methodology of the Survey Study:

Mr. Elias Kukali, the head of the Research and Studies' Section at the PCPO, said that all interviews of this survey were conducted inside the respondents' homes, i.e. face-to-face, during different working hours, at least 5 hours a day, including the evening time, in order to ensure proper representation of those sub-groups of the population, which would otherwise be difficult to reach, and selecting one individual in each household using Last Birthday Method. The choices were taken from a total of (156) election sites, from which (116) sites are located in West Bank and (40) sites in Gaza Strip according to the distribution of the Central Election Commission. These election sites were randomly chosen by using the method of the simple random sample. These in turn were the beginning of the random sample choice made from those regions in accordance with PCPO's long experienced methodology.

Mr. Elias Kukali has further established that the margin of error was (±3.09%) at a significance and confidence levels of (5%) and (95%) respectively. He added that the rate of the female respondents in this survey was (47.8%) against (52.2%) male respondents. The distribution of the random sample between the Palestinian two major regions was (64.5%) in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and (35.5%) in Gaza Strip, and allocated as follows: (62.0%) for the towns, (21.0%) for the villages and (17.5%) for the camps.