June 5, 2002

12:34 PM

Poll of Palestinians by PCPO May 24 - 30, 2002 We can get conflicting Israeli views in their diverse news sources and polls. Here is a Palestinian poll, recently done It it does not deal with the Israel conflict but rather with the present government. This may provide some useful insights.
posted by Postroad (13 comments total)

It's sad to see that the Palestinians have so little faith in their leaders and their plan.

11. The PA will respect individuals' right for free expression even if their opinion opposed that of the PA. Answers were as follows: (12.7%) strongly agree, (26.9%) somewhat agree, (28.5%) somewhat disagree, (26.7%) strongly disagree, (5.2%) "No opinion".

16. The PA will allow peaceful empowerment to another party if potential election results gave it the majority of votes. Answers were as follows: (10.3%) strongly agree, (22.6%) somewhat agree, (28.1%) somewhat disagree,
(31.3%) strongly disagree, (7.7%) "No opinion".

Sometimes I think the only hope is in the next generation of leaders. Do we need a troupe of trained assassins to take our Sharon, Bibi and most of the current PA?
posted by Marquis at 12:40 PM on June 5, 2002

Why would you need to assasinate Bibi and Sharon, when they can be voted out of office and counted on to leave peacefully?
posted by jaek at 1:28 PM on June 5, 2002

I think the main problem is defining who the "next generation of leaders" will be, hence the entrenchment of the old-school. There's Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia, both of whom are rather moderate, and well thought of by foreign powers...but neither of which enjoy any sort of wide scale public acceptance within their own people.
posted by dejah420 at 1:30 PM on June 5, 2002

[It's sad to see that the Palestinians have so little faith in their leaders and their plan.]

Really? I thought it was rather reassuring.
posted by revbrian at 1:34 PM on June 5, 2002

Then maybe its time to ask yourself the question China has already answered: which do you value more, stability or democracy?
posted by luriete at 1:35 PM on June 5, 2002

"China has already answered: which do you value more, stability or democracy?"

how about a stable democracy, they poll the people about that?
posted by clavdivs at 1:56 PM on June 5, 2002

It's sad to see that the Palestinians have so little faith in their leaders and their plan.

You've got to be fucking kidding me. What leaders? What fucking plan? There is no locus of control for Palestinians. There is no "plan" beyond the hard religious and nationalist sell to saddened young Palestinian minds--urging them to give their lives and their souls to the unconscionable fucking objective of sickened cowards--marching them to their certain death, whereupon they'll take the lives of defenseless citizens with them... Sharon and Netenyahu get up your nose to the point that you'd openly advocate their assassinations--but the vile cynicism and betrayal of Palestinians by their own alleged "leadership", that shit doesn't bother you. The fact that Palestinians themselves find this troubling--no skin off your agenda's nose, eh, 'cause you know better... You need to have that patronizing, "my agenda--at all costs" crap bitch slapped out of you--from one end of the room and back again.

I'm more certain than ever that our civilisation is deader than a damned stone--just waiting to be devoured by rotten predatory bastards, while genius mentalities like the Marquis cradle their precious agendas to the agonized ambient sounds of innocents on both sides. It's all turned into a massive politicized agenda game; the lives of those who bleed and die--they're nothing more than incidental distractions.
posted by Tiger_Lily at 2:10 PM on June 5, 2002

What the fuck are you talking about, Tiger_Lily? Back your agenda-fuelled ass right up. I said "sad" not because I 'pity the foolish Palestinians and wish they knew the true way', but rather because they're in the "agonized" situation you describe and many of them seem to realize it. It's sad because they are suffering human beings who aren't even sufficiently caught-up in ideological razzle-dazzle to buy the lies any more.

And Tiger_Lily, for someone who is mourning a "dead vicilisation", you're certainly not contributing to the humanity of the world. Take your unsubstantiated inflammatories somewhere else.
posted by Marquis at 2:46 PM on June 5, 2002

*steps aside from flames*

Were measures taken to ensure the anonymity of participants in this poll? That could impact the results.
posted by sheauga at 4:00 PM on June 5, 2002

"Strengthening Palestinian Public Institutions" - Council on Foreign Relations Report (1999)
posted by sheauga at 5:58 PM on June 5, 2002

I think the main problem is defining who the "next generation of leaders" will be

It seems to me that the real issue will be whether or not the "next generation of leaders" can guarantee control over Hamas and other "all or nothing at all" terrorist groups.
posted by semmi at 7:50 PM on June 5, 2002

And Tiger_Lily, for someone who is mourning a "dead vicilisation", you're certainly not contributing to the humanity of the world. Take your unsubstantiated inflammatories somewhere else.

Marquis: I beg to differ with you. Tiger_Lily's statements are quite substantiated by actual events. I also find it asinine your sending her to a conservative Republican group because of her views. Her anger for the mindless killing and the mindless support of that killing is within the framework of a humanitarian on the left.
posted by semmi at 8:05 PM on June 5, 2002

Semmi, while I appreciate your contribution above, sticking your head into an exchange of fire might not be the wisest idea. At the same time, I suppose it's useful to see the places where my post could be misunderstood (as you have done).

My "unsubstantiated" reference was a comment on Tiger_Lily's attack on me, not an attempt to undermine her statements about the current affairs in the Occupied Territories. My "vicilisation" reference was a nonce-form. :) And as for the Freeper pointer, I chose that trollish, right-wing forum on purpose, to make a point about the impropriety of Tiger_Lily's behaviour regardless of (if not especially due to) his/her political leanings. A certain level of respect is due to people no matter their political affiliation, and as a Leftist (though not a PA apologist), I was particularly offended by some of Tiger_Lily's shrill accusations.
posted by Marquis at 8:45 PM on June 5, 2002