A recent poll reveals that the majority of Palestinians believe that the Palestinian Hamas party should recognize peace agreements signed between Israeli and the PLO, while 55 percent said that Hamas should recognize Israel’s right to exist if it were to withdraw fully from the West Bank and Gaza Strip to pre-1967 borders.
Of nearly 1400 Palestinians surveyed, 58.5 percent stated that it was important that such agreements should be respected, while 35 percent of those questioned stated that agreements made by the PLO need not be respected.
The poll, published on Sunday by the A-Najah University in the West Bank, found that approximately 60 percent of Palestinians are pleased with the outcome of recent elections which put the Hamas party in power, according to Ynet.
Those surveyed stated that as a result of Hamas' rise to power, the quality of their lives would improve; some 80 percent of respondents believe that basic services like health and education will improve under Hamas leadership as compared to previous Palestinian Authority leadership.
61 percent of those surveyed believed that Hamas would likely be able to convince international donors to continue supporting the Palestinian Authority despite the decision of many western governments to supply aid on the condition that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist, respect peace agreements with Israel and renounce violence.
Some 75 percent oppose the unilateral formation of a Hamas-led government, while 88 percent support the formation of a unity government between Hamas and other Palestinian parties.
70 percent of those surveyed said that Hamas will respect human rights during its term in power.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
