By Aviel Schneider, Israel Today-—
Is an independent Palestinian state really all that important to the local Arab population? Well, not exactly, at least not according to a recent Palestinian opinion poll.
The touted two-state solution seems to be more in line with the interests of Western powers than it is for Israelis and Palestinian Arabs themselves. Conducted by A-Najar University in Nablus, the aforementioned poll found that just 18 percent of Palestinians believe the two-state solution will actually resolve the conflict, and most respondents opposed the scheme altogether.
Interestingly, a 46 percent plurality said that in place of an independent Palestinian state, they would prefer confederation with neighboring Jordan, where a majority of the population is “Palestinian” Arab.
A solution along those lines would actually be reverting to how things were before 1967 – with Jordan administering the so-called “West Bank” and Egypt taking responsibility for Gaza. The only problem is that neither Jordan nor Egypt want such an outcome.
The real take-away, however, is that if a majority among both the Israelis and the Palestinians don’t believe a two-state solution can be implemented or that it will solve the conflict, why does the West keep pushing it?
Still, while most Palestinians aren’t looking for an independent state, an overwhelming 83 percent still support some form of uprising against Israel. A 45.7 percent plurality say that uprising should be non-violent in nature, while 38 percent back full-scale terrorism against the Jews of Israel.
Another interesting fact is that while the Palestinians urge the world to boycott Israel, 64 percent of poll respondents admitted they themselves regularly purchase Israeli products as they are more reliable than Arab alternatives.