- Jan 8, 2007
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Survey finds Palestinian support for bi-national state gaining ground.
Palestinian support for a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel is declining, a joint Palestinian-Israeli study has found.
The latest public opinion survey conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that while the majority of Palestinians and Israelis prefer a two-state solution to the conflict, Palestinian support for such a resolution has declined in recent months.
Dr Nabil Kukali, Director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, agreed that Palestinian public opinion is trending towards a bi-national state.
"On the whole, Palestinians support the peace process, but there are some changes in attitudes towards the two-state solution," he told The Media Line. "The Palestinians feel hopeless and they don't think the Israelis will give the Palestinians one meter of their land."
Ya'akov Shamir, prof. of communications at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that while a growing number of Palestinians support a bi-national state, on the whole such an option is not on the table.
"In recent months the option of one state, for both Israelis and Palestinians, came up on the agenda," he told The Media Line. "Palestinians push this option as a threat to Israelis because whenever there are difficulties in negotiations or in making progress in the two state solution, they believe that the situation on the ground and the demographic reality may lead to international pressure to accept such an option."
"In Israel there is a group that believes that a bi-national state is inevitable because with Jewish and Palestinian communities so entangled in the West Bank, it will be almost impossible to divide them," Dr Shamir said. "The second argument is that Israel is so heavily invested in the West Bank, that when the Israeli public finds out what they have to give up for a two state solution, they won't support it [...] However, on the whole neither Israelis nor Palestinian are open to this idea."
Dr Shamir said the threat which a bi-national state poses to Israeli Jews explains the higher Israeli support for a two state solution.
"A bi-national state is a much greater threat to the identity of the Israeli public than it is to the identity of the Palestinian public," he said.
But Dr Jamil Rabah, Director of the Ramallah-based polling group Near East Consulting, said the growing Palestinian support for a bi-national state was not a result of the potential threat it posed to Israeli Jews.
"I don't think Palestinians see a bi-national state as a threat," he told The Media Line. "I think it's a genuine feeling that one democratic state in which Jews, Muslims and Christians all live together would simply be easier."
Palestinians increasingly back 1-state
Palestinian support for a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel is declining, a joint Palestinian-Israeli study has found.
The latest public opinion survey conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that while the majority of Palestinians and Israelis prefer a two-state solution to the conflict, Palestinian support for such a resolution has declined in recent months.
Dr Nabil Kukali, Director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, agreed that Palestinian public opinion is trending towards a bi-national state.
"On the whole, Palestinians support the peace process, but there are some changes in attitudes towards the two-state solution," he told The Media Line. "The Palestinians feel hopeless and they don't think the Israelis will give the Palestinians one meter of their land."
Ya'akov Shamir, prof. of communications at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that while a growing number of Palestinians support a bi-national state, on the whole such an option is not on the table.
"In recent months the option of one state, for both Israelis and Palestinians, came up on the agenda," he told The Media Line. "Palestinians push this option as a threat to Israelis because whenever there are difficulties in negotiations or in making progress in the two state solution, they believe that the situation on the ground and the demographic reality may lead to international pressure to accept such an option."
"In Israel there is a group that believes that a bi-national state is inevitable because with Jewish and Palestinian communities so entangled in the West Bank, it will be almost impossible to divide them," Dr Shamir said. "The second argument is that Israel is so heavily invested in the West Bank, that when the Israeli public finds out what they have to give up for a two state solution, they won't support it [...] However, on the whole neither Israelis nor Palestinian are open to this idea."
Dr Shamir said the threat which a bi-national state poses to Israeli Jews explains the higher Israeli support for a two state solution.
"A bi-national state is a much greater threat to the identity of the Israeli public than it is to the identity of the Palestinian public," he said.
But Dr Jamil Rabah, Director of the Ramallah-based polling group Near East Consulting, said the growing Palestinian support for a bi-national state was not a result of the potential threat it posed to Israeli Jews.
"I don't think Palestinians see a bi-national state as a threat," he told The Media Line. "I think it's a genuine feeling that one democratic state in which Jews, Muslims and Christians all live together would simply be easier."
Palestinians increasingly back 1-state
