Gil Kulick
NEW SURVEY:
SURPRISING POTENTIAL FOR NON-VIOLENT INTIFADA
Two years into the
Intifada, groundbreaking survey reveals:
-
80% of Palestinians
would support a large-scale non-violent protest movement and 56% would
participate in its activities.
-
78% of Israeli Jews
believe that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to seek a
Palestinian state, provided that they use non-violent means.
NOTE: Full survey results are available at
http://www.sfcg.org
in
English,
Arabic, or
Hebrew.
Jerusalem,
August 28, 2002 - Search for Common Ground (SFCG), the world’s largest
conflict prevention and resolution NGO, today released a survey conducted by
the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) of the University of
Maryland to determine, for the first time, the attitudes of Palestinians and
Jewish Israelis on the potential for nonviolent methods in the Palestinian
Intifada. A Palestinian polling organization, the Jerusalem Media and
Communications Center (JMCC), carried out the poll of 600 Palestinians
through face-to-face interviews from August 12-19. An Israeli polling
organization, the B.L. and Lucille Cohen Institute for Public Opinion
Research of Tel Aviv University, carried out the poll of 504 Israeli Jews by
telephone interviews from August 12-14. The key findings are as follows:
A strong majority (62%) of Palestinians
thinks that a new approach is needed in the Intifada and overwhelming
majorities (73-92%) approve of Palestinians using various methods of
nonviolent action. Pluralities to
majorities of Palestinians express willingness to participate in various
specific nonviolent actions, including boycotts and forms of mass civil
disobedience—numbers that, if actually mobilized, would amount to hundreds
of thousands of Palestinians. If a Palestinian were killed in the course of
committing nonviolent resistance, a near unanimous 88% would regard that
person as a martyr--in most cases, no less than a suicide bomber.
However, concurrent with their high support for
nonviolent methods, Palestinians show equal levels of support for violent
methods.
Majorities express
a desire for retribution and do not think violence is harming their cause
internationally.
On the Israeli side, an
overwhelming 78% of Israeli Jews questioned believe that the Palestinians
have a legitimate right to seek a Palestinian state, provided that they use
nonviolent means. Likewise 56% feel this way about the Palestinians’
right to oppose the expansion of the settlements. If the Palestinians were
to move from violent to nonviolent forms of protest, a majority of Israeli
Jews would favor making concessions to the Palestinians, including phasing
out the checkpoints between Palestinian towns (61%) and being more flexible
in negotiations about the borders of a future Palestinian state—as high as
60%.
Eight
out of ten Palestinians said they would approve of a large-scale Palestinian
movement based on nonviolent action against Israeli occupation
using such methods as demonstrations, boycotts, and civil disobedience, and
more than half (56%) said they would be willing to participate in it.
A majority of Israeli Jews (57%) said they would approve of such a movement.
About two-thirds said the Israeli government should not try to stop
Palestinians from organizing large nonviolent demonstrations.
An overwhelming majority of Palestinians
favors the idea of all Palestinians refusing to work in the construction of
settlements, or for businesses located in
the settlements. Among Israeli Jews, a strong majority believes that the
Israeli government should not crack down harshly on efforts to organize
strikes and work stoppages of Palestinian workers in the settlements, but a
majority says that the Israeli government should crack down if large groups
block construction activity in the settlements or block access to the
settlements.
Both Palestinians and Israeli Jews are
unsure about the feasibility of a large-scale nonviolent movement.
While Palestinian support for mass nonviolent action is strong, majorities
have doubts about whether it would be effective. Among Israeli Jews, an
overwhelming majority thinks it unlikely that a nonviolent movement will
emerge.
“We believe these findings reflect the real, but
unrealized, potential that non-violence can play in ending the vicious cycle
of bloodshed,” says John Marks, President SFCG. “While non-violence could
provide a possible way out, unfortunately, it is not yet seen by most people
in both societies as feasible.”
Search for Common Ground
(SFCG) was founded in 1982 and is a Washington and Brussels-based NGO, with
offices in 13 countries. It is the world’s largest conflict prevention and
resolution NGO. SFCG has worked in the Middle East for the past 11 years.
Its activities include the Common Ground News Service, the Bulletin of
Regional Cooperation in the Middle East, and scores of meetings to
promote dialogue and joint action among specialists from across the region
involved in the fields of security, media, civil society and conflict
resolution.
The Program on
International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) is a joint program of the Center
on Policy Attitudes (COPA) and the Center for International and Security
Studies at Maryland (CISSM) School of Public Affairs, University of
Maryland. PIPA was created to help bridge the gap between various publics
and policymaking communities on international issues. Drawing on its own
data and comprehensive reviews of data from other organizations, PIPA
researchers analyze the patterns of majority opinion, looking to identify
the potential for public consensus on international policy issues.
The Jerusalem Media and
Communications Center (JMCC) is the first institution in the Arab world
to conduct public opinion surveys methodologically and continuously. The
main aim of those regular opinion polls is to enhance public participation
in the decision-making process by making the results available to decision
makers, and, also to enable academics, researchers and others to use
scientifically collected data in their studies and policy projects.
The B.L. & Lucille Cohen
Institute for Public Opinion Research is the only public opinion
research institute located in a university setting in Israel. As such, it is
charged with the task of pursuing theoretical and methodological
capabilities that will contribute to the study of attitudes and opinions in
Israeli society. Its objectives are to develop a survey program on attitudes
concerning Israeli polity and society; assemble trend information in order
to follow the dynamics of public opinion in Israel; and experiment with
survey methodology in order to improve survey techniques.
hagalil.com 26-09-2002 |