22 Sep 2021; MEMO: A recent poll found that about 80 per cent of Palestinians want Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, Quds Press reported yesterday.
The poll was conducted by Khalil Shikaki, who runs the Palestinian Center for Survey and Policy Research in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
According to Shikaki, 1,270 Palestinian adults were interviewed for the survey across the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip between 15-18 September.
"This is the highest number we have seen calling for Abbas' resignation since Abbas' election in 2005," Shikaki told the media.
"If presidential and parliamentary elections were held today," Shikaki said, "Hamas will win against Fatah if Abbas was Fatah's choice, but if Fatah nominated Marwan Al Barghouti, it will win."
A large majority of the Palestinians, the poll found, believe that Hamas deserves to represent the Palestinians, while Fatah, the PA and PA security services have lost people's confidence.
Meanwhile, most of the Palestinians want Hamas to launch rockets at Israel if it expels Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah and puts restrictions on accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The poll found that the Palestinians have confidence in Hamas' pledges to free Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, but they do not believe Fatah and the PA's promises to do so.
Two-thirds of the Palestinians saw that Hamas fought the last war with Israel in defence of the residents of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
