Palestinian Attitudes on War in Iraq

In the war between the United States and Saddam Hussein, whom did you support? (PORI, September 2003)

	Israeli Jews	Israeli Arabs	Palestinians
Strongly Hussein	--	21%	50%
Mostly Hussein	--	17%	24%
Mostly United States	22%	10%	6%
Strongly United States	73%	9%	4%
Don't Know	5%	44%	16%

And in general, do you _ the people who are attacking American troops in Iraq right now. (PORI, September 2003)

	Israeli Jews	Israeli Arabs	Palestinians
Strongly Support	--	40%	26%
Somewhat support	--	21%	16%
Somewhat Oppose	25%	12%	21%
Strongly Oppose	71%	15%	23%
Don't know	5%	12%	14%

In your opinion, what is the influence of the current war in Iraq on the Palestinian cause? Is it negative? Positive? Or does not have an influence? (Source: JMCC Poll, April 2003)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza
	N=1201	N=761	N=440
Has a negative influence	56.1	55.2	57.7
Has a positive influence	16.6	15.6	18.2
Does not have an influence	15.2	16.0	13.9
I Don’t know	10.1	10.6	9.1
No answer.	2.0	2.6	1.1

Do you support or oppose the American and coalition war against Iraq? (Source: PSR, April 2003)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza
Oppose	0.4	0.5	0.2
Definitely support	0.8	1.1	0.4
Support	9.5	12.3	4.9
Definitely oppose	89.1	85.9	94.5
No opinion / do not know	0.2	0.2	0.0

In your view, how does the war in Iraq affect the Palestinians and the Israelis? For example: (Source: PSR, April 2003)

	Total%	West Bank %	Gaza Strip%
Will Israel be able to exploit the opportunity to carry out a mass expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip?
1) Will be able	45.5	45.9	45.0
2) Will not be able	43.7	44.4	42.6
3) War will have no impact on Israeli policy	6.9	5.2	9.5
4) No opinion/ Do Not Know	3.9	4.5	2.8

Does the war bring the parties closer or take them further away from a return to the peace process and the negotiations?
	Total%	West Bank %	Gaza Strip%
1) Bring them closer	18.6	18.0	19.5
2) Take them further away	60.7	61.5	59.2
3) Has no impact on the peace process	13.3	12.1	15.4
4) No opinion/ Do Not Know	7.5	8.4	5.9

Does it weaken or strengthen the desire of the Palestinians to carry out armed attacks on Israelis?
	Total%	West Bank %	Gaza Strip%
1) Weaken	10.4	10.2	10.5
2) Strengthen	77.9	77.1	79.3
3) Does not have an impact	8.2	8.2	8.3
4) No opinion/ Do Not Know	3.5	4.5	1.8

Who, in your opinion, will win this war in Iraq ?
	Total%	West Bank %	Gaza Strip%

1) Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein	60.5	59.2	62.7
2) The US and its coalition partners	11.9	12.3	11.4
3) All are losers	17.6	17.7	17.4
4) Others (specify ------- )	1.8	2.3	0.8
5) No opinion/ do not know	8.2	8.5	7.7

In your opinion what is the primary motive for the US and GB decision to go to war against Iraq ? (Source: PSR, April 2003)

	Total%	West Bank %	Gaza Strip%
1) To disarm Iraq from mass destruction weapons which put the world in danger	1.7	1.5	2.1
2) To seize Iraqi oil and make economic gains	58.4	55.7	62.8
3) To force the Western norms and values on the Iraqi people	2.3	2.6	1.9
4) To help Israel in its struggle against the Arab World	31.6	33.6	28.2
5) Others	4.8	5.6	3.6
6) No opinion/ do not know	1.1	1.0	1.3

Do you expect a US attack on Iraq? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Yes	62.3%	65.6%	56.7%
No	33.2%	29.2%	39.9%
No opinion	4.5%	5.2%	3.4%

If a war breaks out between Iraq and the US, do you expect Iraq will launch missiles against Israel like the last time? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Yes	52.2%	50.6%	54.9%
No	42.9%	43.1%	42.6%
No opinion	4.9%	6.3%	2.5%

If Iraq launches missiles against Israel, are you concerned that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will be injured? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Yes	48.5%	45.3%	54.0%
No	46.9%	49.7%	42.1%
No opinion	4.6%	5.6%	3.9%

Do you support Iraq and sympathize with it in this crisis? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Yes	94.1%	96.9%	89.3%
No	4.8%	2.3%	9.1%
No opinion	1.1%	0.8%	1.6%

If you support Iraq, is this support based on: (This question asked only to those who answered yes to Q.4 above) (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
You backing of the policy of the Iraqi government headed by Saddam	4.5%	4.8%	3.8%
Your sympathy with the Iraqi people	25.2%	22.6%	30.1%
Your position against the US and its policies in the region	17.3%	10.5%	29.8%
First & second reasons	6.4%	7.2%	5.1%
First & third reasons	5.6%	6.9%	3.3%
Second & third reasons	28.4%	32.2%	21.2%
Al the three reasons	12.4%	15.7%	6.4%
No opinion	0.2%	0.1%	0.3%

Do you support the Palestinian Authority's (PA) position on the current Iraqi crisis? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Support	46.2%	44.2%	49.7%
Oppose	25.9%	27.5%	23.2%
Do not know the position of the Authority	23.6%	24.2%	22.6%
No opinion	4.3%	4.1%	4.5%

Do you think the US implements a double-standard policy in dealing with crises in the region? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Yes	80.5%	84.6%	73.3%
No	13.1%	10.7%	17.3%
No opinion	6.4%	4.7%	9.4%

If the US launches a strike against Iraq. Do you support Iraq launching a strike against Israel? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Yes	77.2%	76.23%	78.8%
No	15.7%	14.3%	18.2%
No opinion	7.1%	9.5%	3.0%

The Palestinian Police issued an order banning demonstrations and marches that might lead to acts of violence
and disturbances, such as burning flags? Do you support or disagree with the order? (Source: JMCC Poll, February 1998)

	Total	West Bank	Gaza Strip
Support	32.7%	30.3%	36.9%
Oppose	57.6%	59.3%	54.7%
No opinion	9.7%	10.4%	8.4%

N=761

N=440